You Bake Me Crazy
by Smorsies
Summary: Modern day GaaLee AU: A 17 year old Lee decides to find a job to help Guy and Kakashi keep their dojo opened. What is cuter than a Rock Lee Barista? A baker/pastry cook Gaara. Mainly Gaara/Lee but there will be Lee/Sakura (not written explicitly. This story centers on Lee and Gaara) Posted on AO3 originally, just posting here too.
1. Chapter 1

"What do you mean the dojo will be closed?!" Lee cried and Guy sighed and sent a side-look to Kakashi.

"I know you're upset, Lee. We are too. But there's really no money coming in right now. We have to focus on our full time jobs." Lee gave them a thoughtful look.

"What if I get a job too? Then I can help!" He said excitedly and Guy laughed.

"Lee, you're only 17 years old. You don't need to be worrying about paying our bills. Enjoy school." Lee frowned at him.

"But dad, I am at the dojo all the time anyway. It is not like I do much besides that. I can take that time and apply it to a job. Please, let me." Guy and Kakashi sighed deeply.

"Fine. Lee I know you're one to not give up, but I would rather you do well in school than make money right now. If you find yourself too distracted to keep up your grades, you're going to stop working." Guy said sternly and Lee's face broke out into a grin.

"I will not let you down, dad! Thank you so much!" Lee hugged Guy and Kakashi together and ran out of the room happily.

"What do you suppose his job will be? He has no experience." Kakashi asked and Guy sighed and shrugged.

"Hell if I know. That'll keep him busy for a while anyway." Kakashi agreed.

* * *

"Hey Bushy-brow, what's up?" Lee turned to face Naruto and gave him a simple nod.

"Hello Naruto. How have you been?"

"Well, I can't really complain, other than Sasuke being a total dick." Lee smiled at that. Him and Naruto were always arguing about something, it was hard to believe they were still friends.

"When is he not?" Lee countered and Naruto grinned at him for agreeing.

"Hey, what's all that?" Naruto asked and picked up the papers without permission. Lee didn't even try to grab them back. It wouldn't do him any good, anyway.

"I am applying for a job." Lee said proudly.

"Why?" Oh. Naruto must not know yet.

"Guy and Kakashi's dojo is being shut down at the end of the month. There's no money for it right now. Rent is too high. Not enough students." Naruto cried out in anguish.

"What?! No! Not the dojo! What am I going to do now? How do I kick Sasuke's ass for absolutely no reason now!?" Naruto cried.

"Well you didn't before so..." Naruto whirled around and frowned at Sasuke's comment.

"Oh ha-ha." He crossed his arms grumpily.

"What are you two talking about kicking my ass for, anyway?" Sasuke asked and opened his locker. It was only 5 away from Lee.

"The dojo is being shut down! How have you not heard!?" Naruto yelled with authority, like he hadn't found out about it literally 30 seconds prior.

"What?" Sasuke looked surprised and then kind of sad. "How the hell am I going to kick Naruto's ass for no reason now?"

"Exactly. Which is _why_ I'm finding a job!" Lee said importantly and Sasuke looked down at the papers Naruto was still holding.

"You applied for Babies-R-Us?" Lee's face colored and he snatched the papers away.

"Anything will work." Sasuke smirked.

"Hey I have an idea! We could help raise money too! It could be like a fundraiser or something! There are a lot of people that count on that dojo! We could raise the money!" Naruto said excitedly and Sasuke perked his brow.

"Speak for yourself, nerd." Naruto ignored him easily and Lee's eyes filled with tears. Oh the joys of youthful friendship!

"Naruto! That is so kind of you to offer!" He hugged Naruto and Naruto tried vehemently to shove him off but he wasn't getting out of that cuddle fest. Sasuke smirked at them and Naruto glowered at Sasuke.

"Don't even. I'll have him hug you too." Naruto threatened and Sasuke rolled his eyes and pulled out his books.

"Whatever losers. I'll see you later." Sasuke slammed his locker shut and walked down the hallway.

Lee laughed and closed his own locker.

"I will see you second period, Naruto." He waved and Naruto waved back going the opposite direction. Lee started to speed up before turning back around and slammed into someone else, their books scattering across the hallway. "Oh my goodness! I am terribly sorry!" Lee cried out embarrassed.

It was the red-headed kid. He transferred last month and Lee never really talked to him. He was a grade below Lee. He stared up at Lee with his piercing aquamarine eyes and it send shivers down Lee's spine.

"Hello. My name is Rock Lee. I am so sorry about that." Lee quickly gathered the other boy's things before his own and handed them to him. "I was not looking and I should have been. I hope you can forgive me." He nodded. "I do not believe we have ever met. What is your name?"

"...Gaara." Gaara said quietly and a grin broke out on Lee's face. He was very happy at the introduction.

"Gaara. I have never heard that name before. It is lovely." Lee blushed at the weird statement. He hoped he didn't weird the boy out too much.

"...Thank you." Gaara perked his brow and Lee was completely flustered. There was something about this Gaara guy that just made him nervous.

"I really hope I get to talk to you again! I must go to class now. Goodbye Gaara!" Lee gathered his own things and with a smile, went on his way.

* * *

After a week of skimming through job applications and sending them in, Lee wasn't feeling very hopeful. No one called back yet and he was progressively getting more depressed. His dad and Kakashi would have to work even harder to reopen the dojo if he couldn't get a job! This was so frustrating!

At dinner, Guy noticed the look of despair on his son's face and couldn't help but chuckle.

"What's so funny?" Kakashi asked and Guy shook his head.

"Just the fact that Lee is so hell bent on finding a job. Son, if you can't find one, it's okay. These are some tough times. As I'm sure you've noticed." Lee frowned and continued to poke his food around.

"What about that new café that opened?" Kakashi offered and Lee glanced up curiously. "The one across the street from the school? _Just Deserts_ I think it's called." Lee's eyes lit up. That would be perfect! He wouldn't have to walk far to get to school either.

Lee hopped up from his seat and ran upstairs, leaving most of his food still on the plate. Guy looked at Kakashi and shook his head. Kakashi couldn't help the smirk on his face.

"You couldn't wait until _after_ dinner?" Kakashi chuckled.

"Wasn't like he was eating anything anyway." Guy frowned but internally agreed.

* * *

Lee was disheartened when he went online and saw that the bakery was closed but he didn't let that bring him down. He would go in right before school started and apply! Hopefully they would see that as dedication and not desperation... Well if they hired on desperation then maybe he would fare better that way.

Lee shuffled through his clothes for a while trying to find a nice outfit for school the next day. One that he could proudly apply for a job in. And hopefully get said job. He really hoped it would work. Once he picked out the perfect outfit, he smiled proudly and started to get ready for bed. He was so excited for the next day that he could barely fall asleep.

* * *

The next morning, Lee woke up a half an hour earlier than normal and rushed to get ready. He showerd, shaved, brushed his teeth, got dressed, all in record time.

Guy was the only one downstairs and he had coffee ready. Lee didn't particularly like coffee but he felt that today was as good of day as any to drink some.

It was terrible.

"Would you like me to drive you in? Wouldn't want to ruin your clothes." Guy winked and Lee smiled happily. He was glad that his clothes looked well enough that his dad knew he was dressing up. He only wore black jeans and a green polo, but still, it was nicer than the usual workout clothes he wore all the time. The only reason he did that though was because he was always running to and from school and during his study hall he was in the weight room working out. Not today.

"That would be so nice of you. Thank you, dad." Guy nodded and grabbed the keys and they headed out.

The drive wasn't very long, it was only two miles away from their house, still, Lee's nerves were on edge. He knew that the café opened at 5am so they were already opened and he didn't have to worry about that. But what if it was a bad time and they got so mad at him they didn't give him the job?

Lee knew he was working himself up but the only job he ever had was at the dojo and he didn't even get paid for that one. He did it because he loved it. He learned from his father and Kakashi, for free, so he taught the younger kids for them. He was grateful for that job. He was certain whatever the job he had at _Just Deserts_ wouldn't be nearly as enjoyable as the dojo.

Guy pulled into the parking lot and it was pretty empty since it was only 5:45am. Lee was thankful for that at least. He hoped that whomever was in charge of hiring was there right now or this would all be for naught. Lee swallowed hard and took himself into the café.

It was actually a really cozy place. The walls were wood paneling and the floor was glazed wood and had a few tactful throw rugs. There were some small tables strewn throughout the layout and couches and recliners were nestled in the corners. The bar (why was there a bar anyway?) was long and wooden and it had a large shiny stainless steel espresso machine. There was a specials board of different drinks and all on the counters on the opposite side of the bar had different breakfast pastries. The bar had seating and behind the bar had different coffee, tea blends, and flavored syrup displayed out for the customers to see. There were two TVs, each on opposite ends of the bar.

Lee read the specials board and understood why the café which had a whole coffee sections was called _Just Deserts_. All of the drinks names were angry sounding and had vague mentioning of revenge movies. Like:

 **The Punisher:** Cup of coffee with **2 shots** of espresso. _You'll probably regret this later_

 **Mad Max:** Americano with **3 shots** of espresso and some of our special sweetened condensed milk concentration. _If the caffeine wont wake you, the sugar sure will #WATER_

 **Desperado** : **4 shots** of espresso. _Are you studying for finals?_

Lee grinned at the humor of the huge list of drinks and a second later, an older girl (probably in her early 20's) met him at the bar.

"What can I get for you?" She asked and Lee stuttered. He was so nervous.

"Yes. I. Um, hi. I was wondering if you were hiring? Perhaps? Maybe?" Lee's hands were fidgeting together and the woman raised her eyebrow.

"What is your name?" She asked and Lee's face reddened.

"Oh gosh I am so sorry. I forgot to introduce myself. Hello, my name is Rock Lee. I go to school across the street and I was trying to find a job. I was hoping you were hiring. What is your name?" The woman smirked at him. He was so funny being so nervous.

"My name is Temari. What is your work history?"

"My work history? Well, I worked in my father's dojo. I trained the younger classes." Temari gave him a curt nod.

"Is that it? Nothing in foodservice? No ServSafe certification?" She was mainly asking to break his balls, she wasn't even sure her brother had a ServSafe certification and he worked in the back.

"O-oh. No. I am afraid I do not even know what that is. I am sorry. I am not very qualified for this job, but I am a very fast learner. I will not do anything less than perfect. I promise you that." Temari crossed her arms.

"You said you go to school?" Lee was confused by the topic change but nodded. "What grade?"

"I am a Junior." Temari looked thoughtful for a moment then smirked.

"Okay. I'm going to ask my brother to be a character witness for you." She said simply and walked in the back.

What? Someone who went to his school worked here? Lee was suddenly more nervous than before. What if it was someone who didn't like him and then he wouldn't get the job? Lee scratched the back of his neck nervously and had to talk himself into calming down.

Temari emerged from the back (presumably the kitchen) with a familiar set of aquamarine eyes and red hair. Lee's eyes widened.

"Gaara?"


	2. Chapter 2

"Wow, Gaara, I had no idea you worked here, that is so great for you. What do you do here?" The smile on Lee's face was almost infectious. Temari hid a smirk behind her hand and Gaara seemed confused at the attention.

"I do morning bake and I prep the pastries." He said quietly and Lee beamed at him.

"That is wonderful! So you've made all of these?" He pointed to the pastries on display and Gaara gave a short nod and walked further out of the kitchen.

Lee almost died with how cute he found Gaara in checkered pants, a short-sleeved chef coat, and an apron. He also had a black headband keeping his hair out of his eyes and giving Lee a better view of his kanji "Love" tattoo. Lee couldn't help the blush on his cheeks when Gaara walked closer to him. Gaara pulled off the glass dome lid to some of the pastries and picked one up and handed it to Lee.

"Why don't you try it?" Gaara offered and Lee quickly grabbed his backpack to look for his wallet. "No." Lee stopped what he was doing and looked up. "It's on the house." Lee's eyes widened, then he smiled shyly.

"T-thank you Gaara. Cinnamon rolls are my favorite." Gaara didn't smile, but there was something about his expression that seemed pleased.

Temari observed the exchange, biting back a grin. How precious. If Temari didn't know better, she'd say Gaara had a crush. From the looks of how flustered Lee was, she'd guess it was a mutual thing. Who was she to stand in the way? She did need help in the mornings (mainly so she could sleep in. Getting in at 4 was not kind to her psyche.)

"So when can you start?" She asked and Gaara and Lee turned to face her. Gaara stared at her with mild shock and Lee stared at her as if she hung the stars.

"Whenever you need me to!" He said happily and she laughed. "Would you like me to start today? I can be here after school?" Temari shook her head.

"I do need someone from early mornings though. You can start training sometime this week. If you'd like you can come in tomorrow and we can fill out paperwork and talk about wages." Lee nodded his head vigorously. He'd almost forgotten he was getting paid. He was more excited to be working with Gaara, that seemed like payment enough. "Do you have any questions for me?"

"Well... If you aren't ready to do the papers today, that is fine. But I do not have to be at school for another... 2 ½ hours. I figured I can wait here. If it would be easier to do the papers today to get them out of the way, I would be more than willing." Lee said happily and Temari raised her eyebrow.

"Wait here a minute." She walked into the back, leaving Gaara and Lee alone.

"So we're going to be working together." Lee stated with a grin and Gaara nodded.

"I can show you the kitchen when you're finished." Lee beamed thankfully.

"That would be wonderful, Gaara. I would love that."

* * *

Lee never thought the paperwork would end. Apparently, you can't just walk in and get a job and start it and move on with your life. There's emergency contact papers, work history papers, standard information, tax information, what the hell was a deductible? At least he had the delicious cinnamon roll to occupy his thoughts every time he got overwhelmed with all of the questions.

Lee was so glad when he finally finished the paperwork and was surprised to see it had taken the better part of 37 minutes. Even so, he was glad to have it finished now instead of later. He glanced over the papers one last time to make sure everything was in check, make sure he signed in the appropriate spots and wrote the correct date on the papers. With a satisfied smile, he shuffled the papers so they were even and walked to the counter, which was surprisingly busy. It was a bit passed 6 and the morning rush was just starting. Lee wished he could help but he didn't even know how to use the machine yet.

Temari worked easily, he was amazed with the fluidity of her movements. She easily made several drinks at once, not even flinching. Lee wondered if Gaara ever went up front to help.

Another person walked through the door and Temari gave him a dirty look.

"You're late." She stated and he glanced at the clock and rolled his eyes.

"By 8 minutes, you survived." Lee was surprised at the tone! How can you disrespect your boss that way? Lee would never dare!

"Kankuro, just shut up and get behind the counter." Temari looked irritated but not as much as she could be. "By the way, this is Lee, the new hire." She nudged Lee at the bar and Lee tensed at the sudden attention.

"Yo, Lee. I'm Kankuro. Temari and Gaara's brother." Well that would make sense why he was able to talk to her like that. He still shouldn't but Lee felt if Temari were talked to that way by anyone else, they would be fired.

"It is a pleasure to meet you." Lee said automatically and Kankuro chuckled and started making the drinks at the machine as Temari passed him cups and handled the transactions.

Lee began pondering to himself. If he worked here in the mornings, would he be replacing Temari or Kankuro? If he replaced Temari, he would be there for nearly two hours alone with Gaara. The thought was exciting. He hoped he'd be able to talk to Gaara more. He seemed like an interesting person, it didn't help that Lee thought he was the cutest guy he'd ever seen.

Thinking about Gaara sparked something in Lee's mind and he remembered Gaara said he'd show him around the kitchen when he was done so Lee put a pen down on top of his papers and slid it across the bar. He walked over to the swinging door that led to the kitchen and saw Temari and Kankuro were distracted with customers so pushed into the kitchen.

The kitchen was bigger than he expected it to be. There was a line of counters on the far wall with a stove, two work benches in the middle of the kitchen, and the other side had several glass door refrigerators. On the opposite end of the room there was a steel door that led into a walk-in freezer. Under the workbenches were several rolling bins with assorted baking equipment and on the right side of him the wall was nearly empty, having only an over and a sink. There was another doorway that Lee saw but he didn't want to walk in too far incase Gaara was busy.

Right now he stood at the counter holding a cornet filled with royal icing outlining sugar cookies. He glanced up and acknowledged Lee but said nothing and continued to ice the cookies. After a few awkward seconds of Lee standing there Gaara looked up briefly.

"You can come over if you'd like." Lee didn't need to be told twice. He loved to watch people work. Especially something as intricate as what Gaara was doing.

"What kind of decorations are you doing on them?" So far they were just circles with an orange circle around them.

"Some of them will be jack-o-lanterns." Gaara said quietly and Lee watched him outline the ridges with one cornet and pick up another one with a slightly lighter orange and fill it with runnier icing. After, he grabbed a thin scribe to push the icing around.

He had an entire sheet tray of pumpkin cookies iced before he grabbed another metal bowl and added more royal icing and dyed it black. He folded a piece of parchment paper into another cornet and filled it. He folded the bag so it wouldn't leak and he placed it on a plate and grabbed his dirty dishes.

"Come on." He said and walked through the next doorway which was a dish pit with a 3 basin sink and a dish washer. Despite the room next door being cool, this room was warm and humid. Lee found himself having a hard time breathing in it. On the other wall in the room were two speed racks filled with sheet trays. "This is the dish room. Our dishwasher isn't very punctual but no one wants to be a dishwasher so we take what we can get."

"If you would like me to, I can do the dishes." Gaara shook his head.

"I think Temari would want you out front. You're too... personable to keep back here. You need a certain mentality to work with the public. Which is why I'm back here." Lee went to make a comment, but Gaara was out of the room already and Lee quickly trailed after him. He peeked into the refrigerator and saw various cambros filled with different batters for cakes. There was more eggs than Lee had ever seen in his life at one time. One fridge was completely filled with different kinds of milk. Whole, skim, almond, soy, hemp, coconut. Why were there so many options? There was also a large jar filled with a creamy brown colored liquid.

"What is that?" Lee asked and Gaara glanced up.

"That is a mixture of sweetened condensed milk and coffee. You can add a bit to coffee drinks to make them sweeter and creamier." That sounded delightful.

"Do you make things for the coffee too?" Gaara nodded and he started drawing faces on the pumpkin cookies once he felt the base icing was dry.

"Ganache and caramel, mostly. Those are the most popular options." Lee was impressed.

"You make that here? That sounds so fancy." Gaara perked his brow.

"For ganache all I do is weigh out 650 grams of chocolate, put it in a bain marie, pour a quart of milk into a pot, warm that up, pour it on top, leave it alone for 5 minutes, come back, mix it and there you have it, ganache." Lee looked at Gaara thoughtfully.

"I never knew it was that simple." He admitted, truth be told, he didn't know much about ganache.

Lee continued to watch Gaara draw faces on the cookies and asked him random questions about what he was doing. Gaara responded with just the right amount of words. Nothing too wordy, considering he didn't much like talking. Lee was happy to hear him talk all the same. Even more so, he loved to see him work. Gaara's hands were a lot steadier than Lee's were, that was for certain.

It was amusing that all the faces were different in some aspect. Some were angry, some were happy, some looked sad, some had square eyes, some round, some triangle. None were the same and Lee loved that. He was also excited to see that the bakery was getting into the autumn spirit. Autumn was his favorite times of year. It was nice and cool, the leaves changed color, and of course, there was pumpkin and apple everything!

Finally, Gaara slid the cookies onto a speed rack with a variety of other baked goods and looked up at Lee.

"It's time for school." He pointed out and Lee couldn't help the nagging feeling of disappointment at that. He couldn't wait to start work and spend all of these mornings with Gaara. He hoped Gaara felt even slightly the same.

Gaara walked into one of the doors that Lee peeked in and saw was an employee bathroom and came out a few minutes later changed out of his chef clothes and into plain jeans and a red sweater. He also had such a strange shaped backpack.

Lee followed Gaara out of the kitchen and the line was still there, but not as bad. Gaara walked behind the counter and grabbed a cold cup and started making himself an iced drink.

"Would you like some coffee, Lee?" He offered and Lee debated it.

"I am not really a fan of coffee..." He admitted bashfully and Gaara looked up at Temari.

"Well..." Temari started. "You should try the drink Gaara always makes. Do you have a sweet tooth?" Lee nodded and Gaara pulled out another cold cup. Lee never had cold coffee before.

Gaara worked around his siblings, putting a scoop of ice into Lee's cup and he made two shots of espresso at the same time. Gaara filled the cup halfway with milk, then tended to the espresso shots. He took a squeeze bottle of vanilla simple syrup into the espresso and mixed it. Before he put the espresso in the cup, he reached into the fridge and pulled out the sweetened condensed milk mixture and put at least a fourth cup in. Gaara dumped the shot on top and closed the lid and handed Lee the drink and picked up two straws and handed Lee one of those too. Lee took it and stared at the drink for a moment and Kankuro was scowling.

"Gaara, you ruin coffee, you know that, don't you?" Gaara shrugged his shoulders while drinking.

"So do you, and you're a barista. At least when I ruin coffee, someone doesn't pay for it." Kankuro scowled and Temari laughed.

"Don't you have to go to school?" Kankuro scowled and Gaara nodded.

"So do you."

Lee finally took a sip of his drink. His only thought was the bitterness of the coffee he drank earlier that morning. This coffee on the other hand, was nothing like that. It was sweet and creamy and had the slightest bitterness in the aftertaste. It was delicious.

"This is amazing." Lee said honestly and drank more.

"Calm down there." Temari warned. "You'll get a stomach ache if you chug that." Lee heeded her advice, but it was so hard with the coffee being so good.

* * *

Him and Gaara walked to school together. It was only across the street, but Lee still felt happy to have Gaara walking by his side. Gaara was such a calm, quiet person. It almost reminded him of Sasuke when they first met. Lee and Sasuke became friends in the fourth grade. Sasuke was angry at the world because his parents had died and he was left in the custody of his older brother, Itachi. Itachi and Sasuke always had this weird air about them. They always fought about something but Lee and Naruto absolutely adored Itachi which probably didn't make anything better. Anyway, once Lee and Sasuke became friends, Sasuke became much more talkative. Not that he was talkative now, but he was more so than he used to be. Lee hoped the same would happen with Gaara.

They walked in silence and Lee noticed how it was still decently early. Why were they there so soon?

"I usually walk the track in the morning before school to get myself awake." Lee could understand. Sometimes he woke up at four to run a couple miles.

"Why do you need to walk when you already get up at four?" Lee asked and Gaara looked at him, Lee noticed the bags under his eyes. He wondered why Lee looked perpetually exhausted. Did it have something to do with the job?

"Waking up for work and waking up are two different things. I'm going to walk the track. You don't have to join if you don't want to." Lee smiled at Gaara.

"Of course I would like to. I have so much more to ask you about baking!" Lee felt excitement at the budding friendship.


	3. Chapter 3

Lee was buzzing the entire day. Coffee was something he should not drink. Sasuke and Naruto acted like they were going to kill themselves if they had to continue dealing with Lee. He was just so awake!

Lee was bummed out that he didn't see Gaara at all that day. He wondered what Gaara's schedule looked like. Would it be weird to ask? Probably. Maybe he could subtly get it from Gaara without outright asking him. Maybe? Speaking of Gaara, Lee had seen Kankuro around way more times than Lee even realized. He didn't know Kankuro was in his lunch period or his gym period. Huh.

"At the risk of not being able to get you to shut up, what is your new job like?" Sasuke asked and Lee turned to him, slight flush of the cheeks.

"Am I really talking that much?" Lee asked and Sasuke, Naruto and their mutual friend Sakura even nodded. "I am so sorry. Gaara made me coffee this morning and I just... I feel like I am tasting colors right now."

"Sheesh. What did he put in your coffee?" Naruto asked and Lee shrugged.

"Who is Gaara?" Sasuke asked and Lee thought for a minute on how to explain him.

"He's short... Well not short short. Probably Naruto's height which is still shorter than me." Naruto glared. "He has messy bright red hair and like... aqua colored eyes. Oh! He has a tattoo on his forehead and he looks like he hasn't slept in 3 years." Naruto snapped his fingers.

"Oh yeah! I know him. He's in my English class. Super quiet. Kind of creepy." Lee glared at Naruto but before he could say something, Sasuke bit back.

"At least he isn't stupid. If he's in your English class, that means he's a year younger than us since _someone_ failed." Naruto blushed and looked sheepish.

"Yeah Naruto, who are you to judge someone?" Sakura scolded and Naruto rolled his eyes.

"Gaara is very nice." Lee said simply and went to work on his papers.

"Are you really using study hall to study today?" Naruto asked incredulously.

"I use it to study every day." Lee retorted and turned back to his work. Naruto grinned and looked at Sasuke and Sakura and all of them stared at Lee, wondering how long it would take him to realize that he was too fidgety to actually focus on anything.

It took less than a minute.

"Did you know my job is looking for a reliable dish washer?" He said and Naruto looked excited.

"They have an opening?! Awesome! You think they'll hire me?" Sasuke scoffed.

"Naruto he said _reliable_. Plus, no one wants _you_ to wash their dishes. They want them cleaned." Naruto pouted at Sasuke and glowered mumbling to himself.

"Well, if anyone would like a job I am sure they will look into hiring you." Lee said simply and tried to focus on his work again.

* * *

Lee hadn't seen Gaara at all that day and he was pretty bummed out. Naruto and Sasuke followed him to the café, even though it was across the street, they'd never been.

What was interesting to them was who was behind the counter. Lee thought the staff was only Temari, Kankuro and Gaara. Apparently, their friend Shikamaru worked there as well.

"Oh wow look who it is!" Naruto laughed gleefully and Shikamaru groaned.

"Oh man, what a drag. What are you doing here?" He asked with a tired expression.

"Lee works here now." Sasuke commented simply and was immersed with the large drink selection. "Naruto was also looking to be a dishwasher."

"Not a chance. We actually need them _cleaned_." Shikamaru enunciated and Naruto sighed loudly and rolled his eyes.

"Why does everyone think I can't clean?"

"Because you can't." Lee supplied flippantly and looked around, trying to find Gaara but not seeing him.

"When do you start?" Shikamaru asked and Sasuke nudged Lee because he wasn't paying attention.

"Huh? Oh. I am not sure. I have to ask Temari. It was never discussed."

"Well if you're looking for her, she isn't here right now. Hold on, I'll call her." Shikamaru dialed the number and with a bored expression waited patiently. "Yeah, hi. Lee is here... Yes that's exactly it... What?... That doesn't even make sense... Are you sure?... Okay. I'll ask." Shikamaru looked up from the phone. "So there was something she had to do right now. You can start whenever you want. I'll be training you." Lee felt a stabbing pain of disappointment. He wasn't sure why he was hopeful that Gaara would train him. He wasn't even a barista.

"Is now too early?" Lee asked and Shikamaru chuckled and put the phone back to his ear.

"You were right, he wants to start now... Yeah yeah, I know how to do this... Don't worry... You're so annoying stop talking... Okay okay. I'll see you soon. Yeah, bye." Shikamaru hung up and Sasuke was smirking at him. "What?"

"You and the boss?" Shikamaru's cheeks colored and he glowered.

"What makes you say that?" He asked with his eyes narrowed.

"Just guessing." Sasuke laughed and Shikamaru rolled his eyes.

"Anyway, Lee you can start your training today if you want. You'll only be here until five, the latest, though because Temari wants you on mornings. She said she just wanted you to get in the swing of using the machine. So come back here. Actually, go put your stuff in the back bathroom first. There's cubbies for employees." Lee nodded excitedly and gave a smile to Naruto and Sasuke and rushed into the kitchen.

He found himself even more disappointed seeing that Gaara wasn't even in the kitchen. How sad. He shook his head out from those thoughts and walked into the bathroom and got an empty cubby and put his belongings down. He looked at the other ones and they all had their name tags stuck to the top part of the wood so you knew who's cubby was who's. Gaara's had a surprising amount of clothes in it and really chunky looking nonslip shoes. There was also a couple of books. He sure kept a lot here. Lee looked up at Gaara's nametag, which read "Gaara. Baker". Everyone's nametag was handwritten so when he saw Gaara's he wondered if that was his handwriting. It was very neat and almost mechanical. Everything was completely even and straight. He'd never been able to write like that. Kankuro's was barely even English and Temari's was script. There were also three other nametags. There were four baristas, a dishwasher and another baker, according to nametags. Lee wondered when he'd get his own.

Once he was done in the bathroom, he walked up front and Shikamaru dug in a cabinet under the bar.

"What size are you?" He asked.

"Medium." Lee responded curiously. He was given two shirts, a hat and an apron. They were all a rusty red color with "Just Desserts" written on it in a menacing font. Lee took the shirts back to the bathroom and changed. He looked weird in an apron and a hat. The apron was only one for your hips; it had three large pockets in them. Lee put his phone and a couple of pens in it and walked back to the front.

Naruto and Sasuke were sitting on a couch in the corner, drinking something and both playing on their phones. Every now and again one of them would nudge the other one just to irritate the other.

When Lee paid attention to Shikamaru, he noticed his uniform was slightly different. His shirt was white.

"Why is your shirt a different color?" Lee asked and Shikamaru pulled out a binder and opened it.

"I'm the night manager. If you noticed, Temari wears one too." He said simply and gathered Lee's attention to the book in front of them. "These are all of our drinks, what's in them and how they're made. Fairly simple. Whenever you don't know what something is, just ask. Now back to the espresso machine..."

* * *

Lee's head ached with all of the knowledge he was given in such a short time. Being a barista was a lot harder than he thought it was! Apparently, the espresso grinder had to be adjusted based on the temperature because it reacted differently. After the shot was ground, it had to be tamped in the pressurize portafilter with 75 pounds of pressure, release, 20 pounds of pressure. If the grounds were too fine, it would burn the shot and if they were too coarse, the shot would be watered down. The perfect shot takes 20-25 seconds for 1 ounce.

Lee decided then, if he ever went out to get a drink, he was tipping his barista.

After the three hours had passed, Lee learned how to create macrofoam with the steam rod, he learned some of the drink names, the difference between a latte, cappuccino, flat white, macchiato. He hoped he retained all of the information. Shikamaru gave him a small quiz at the end of the shift.

"What's a flat white?"

"A latte with just steamed milk, no foam."

"What's a dry cappuccino?"

"A shot of espresso with the rest of the cup dry foam."

"What degree angle should you hold the cup to the steam rod?"

"At a 45 degree angle."

Lee was amazed he remembered as much as he did. He was really trying. This entire time, Sasuke and Naruto were on the couches. They did their homework together, drank a stupid amount of craft soda, they even shared some pastries. Lee bit his lip to stop himself from laughing. He'd have to ask how their date went after he left. Since it was the weekend, they decided they would go to Lee's house and wait for him. Lee wasn't worried about it, they usually messed with Kakashi the whole time.

Lee walked into the bathroom to get his stuff when he heard a figure behind him. He turned his head and there was Gaara in his sweater and jeans. Lee's face lit up.

"Gaara! Hello!" Gaara always seemed confused every time Lee looked excited to see him. He waved.

"Hello, Lee." He walked to the cubby and hung up his bookbag.

"I was wondering if I would see you before I left. When do you usually work?" Lee asked, hoping it wasn't too forward of him.

"I'm almost always here. I just wasn't here now because I was working on a project. Temari text me and told me to give you her number so you can talk about hours." Gaara pulled out his phone, it was a really old flip-phone. Lee stared at it in confusion. Why did Gaara have such an old phone?

"Okay!" Lee quickly grabbed his phone from his apron pocket and Gaara gave him Temari's number. "W-well what if I need you to let me in or something in the morning? Shouldn't I have your number too? I-if that's okay, I mean." Lee wondered why he was so flustered. Gaara stared at him for a few seconds, nodded slowly, and gave Lee his number as well. "Thank you Gaara! I will see you when Temari tells me to come in next!" Lee waved excitedly and Gaara raised his hand at the wave and Lee was out.

Lee never realized a bathroom could be so stuffy and warm.

* * *

Sasuke, Lee and Naruto all loaded up into Sasuke's car. It was a beat up old 1999 Mercedes ML350 which was basically a mom car and he was teased relentlessly for it until one day he snapped "Well why don't you drive me with one of your cars? Oh wait. I'm the only one with a car." From that point on, they only made fun of his mom car every so often.

When they pulled up to Lee's house, Lee was so excited to tell his dad and Kakashi about his new job that he jumped out of the car. Naruto and Sasuke laughed and followed him inside.

"Dad! Kakashi!" Lee scrambled through the house to the kitchen where they normally were when they were home. He found the two sitting at the table eating dinner. Lee hadn't realized it was dinner time.

"Yes?" Gai asked and ate a piece of broccoli. Sasuke and Naruto walked in behind Lee and sat at the table and started picking at the food. Kakashi swatted Naruto on the side of the head, but handed them plates anyway.

"I got it! I got the job! I am a barista now!" Guy jumped up and hugged Lee with much gusto and Kakashi, Sasuke and Naruto had to sit miserably through Guy's pep talk about "youthful energy" and "work ethic" and then the two cried and hugged each other.

"Why do we come here?" Sasuke asked Naruto and Kakashi stared him down.

"At least you don't live here. This happens daily." Kakashi sighed and continued to eat his food.

"That sounds so bad. No wonder we're your only friends, Lee." But Lee and Guy were still having a moment and not paying the slightest bit of attention.

"Lee got someone's number." Naruto announced, trying to rile Guy and Kakashi up, but Lee didn't miss a beat.

"Did you notice that before or after your date with Sasuke?" Naruto and Sasuke blanched and started yelling about how gross that would be and Lee looked at Kakashi. "You should have seen them. They were sitting on the couch, doing homework and sharing food."

"Aw, how sweet. Did you have a nice date? Did you use protection? Oh, silly me, that isn't until the third date. How many dates is this?" Sasuke glowered and in a show of his manliness, shoved Naruto off his chair.

"I would never date that loser." Naruto jumped off the floor and pointed at him.

"Hey, who are you calling a loser?! You know, it takes one to know one! You're the loser Sasuke." Lee smiled in delight at the situation he caused and ate his dinner listening to his two best friends verbally abuse each other.

A part of him wondered if that was a date though. At least no one asked him about Gaara.


	4. Chapter 4

Lee woke up the next morning to his alarm blaring at 4:25. He had to be at work at 5 for training. He didn't mind much. He was able to get a good night's sleep. The night before he couldn't sleep because he was so excited. Now that he got that excitement out of the way, sleep came easily.

Lee's bed was a king sized bed, he used to have a twin, but Guy wanted a new bed so gave Lee the old one. It took up most of his room, but at least Sasuke and Naruto were happy they didn't have to sleep on the floor. Both of them had plenty of room on the bed, more now that Lee was leaving.

The floor was cold on his feet and it felt nice. It woke him up more at the temperature change from his warm bed. Lee grabbed his uniform from the top of his dresser and walked to the bathroom to shower. Usually he took one at night, but Sasuke and Naruto kept his attention the entire time.

After his shower, the clock read 4:40 and Lee tiptoed to Sasuke's sleeping form. Lee heard the down pouring rain from outside and was not looking forward to walking.

"Sasuke." He whispered and Sasuke's eyes opened slowly. "Can I borrow the car?" Sasuke gave a nod and went back to sleep. Lee smiled and grabbed his rain coat and rain boots and left the room in a hurry.

The house was so quiet at this time, he loved it. He could hear snoring from Guy's bedroom though and stifled a giggle.

"You headed to work?" Kakashi asked, scaring Lee half to death. Lee turned to face the man sitting on the couch, nursing a cup of coffee.

"Yes. I will be back around noon. Naruto and Sasuke will probably sleep until 10, I am taking Sasuke's car." Lee explained, pressing the start button on the car. It was probably super cold outside with the rain and he wanted the car as warm as could be.

"Oh boy, you're leaving us to babysit the boys." Lee grinned.

"They just love you, Kakashi." Kakashi rolled his eyes and shooed Lee out of the house. "Goodbye Kakashi! Love you!"

"Love you too, kid."

* * *

The ride to the café was pretty terrifying. The sky was black and the rain was coming down so hard, Lee had a difficult time seeing with his wipers on full speed. When he finally got to the café, he didn't want to get out of the car. He really didn't want to get wet. He should've brought a change of pants. Lee took a deep breath and jumped out of the car, lunging for the front door, which was thankfully opened.

Lee's coat dripped water onto the welcome mat and he looked around the café. The lights weren't all on so it had an eerie vibe to it.

He heard rustling in the kitchen and wiped his boots and pulled off his coat and followed the sound of the noise.

When Lee walked into the kitchen, there was Gaara, sitting on a stool, piping roses and putting them on a sheet tray.

"Good morning Gaara!" Lee said happily and Gaara turned to him.

"Good morning Lee. How did you sleep?" The question surprised Lee, he didn't think Gaara would as about his well being. The question made him smile wider.

"I slept wonderfully. How about you?" Gaara shrugged.

"I haven't been to sleep yet." He admitted and Lee's posture slouched.

"What? Well why are you here? Are you ok?" Gaara nodded slowly, putting all of his attention into the roses.

Lee sighed and went to the bathroom to hang everything up. Once he was back in the kitchen, Gaara was putting the sheet tray into the speed rack in the standing freezer.

Lee turned to look over the swinging doors that led to the dish pit and saw that there was a decent amount of dishes stacked up.

Gaara broke down his piping bags and squeezed the excess buttercream into quart containers and stacked them neatly back on the shelf. Lee watched in interest as he walked to his small clipboard and crossed something off of the list. There was at least 35 different things crossed off. Lee was amazed. He left at 5pm, it was now 5am and Gaara hadn't slept? He'd been working for 12 hours? When was he going home?

"Are you done now?" Lee asked and Gaara scanned the list and shook his head.

"No, I have to make caramel now. I used it all for filling cupcakes. Temari won't be happy if there isn't any caramel to use for up front. She has a half quart but she is anal." Lee snorted at the comment and Gaara looked over at him with his lips curled up somewhat.

"Speaking of, where is she?" Lee asked and Gaara shrugged.

"I don't know. We may open later today because of the storm. Temari is usually here at 430 to start opening. I think she said the power went off last night. Perhaps she slept through her alarm." Gaara walked to the oven where he had pots stacked on top and found it difficult to reach the copper bottom pot he needed. Lee quickly made himself available and grabbed the pot for him. Lee didn't realize how much shorter Gaara was than him. He loved it. "Thank you."

"No problem! Would you like some assistance?" Gaara looked at Lee thoughtfully.

"I suppose if you'd like to. Can you get out the heavy cream and butter?" Lee nodded enthusiastically and quickly went to the dairy side of the fridge and pulled some out.

Gaara weight sugar in the pot and poured water in it and mixed the sugar and water with a gloved hand. Lee watched with interest. He put a tablespoon of something Lee didn't know what it was in the pot and mixed that too. He placed the pot on the stove and turned it on and grabbed two quart containers and a small scale. He scaled out his heavy cream and diced the butter and weighed that too. He then looked at Lee.

"That's it until the caramel cooks." Every time Lee was with Gaara, he was impressed by the simplicity of things. How was it that easy to make caramel? How was it that easy to make anything? Gaara just floated around the kitchen with ease. Where did he learn all of this stuff.

"How long does it take?" Gaara shrugged at the question. "When do you know it is ready?"

"Smell." Gaara said simply and Lee was confused. "When it's ready it will smell sweet. You could also use a thermometer, but ours broke a while ago." Gaara said simply.

"That is so cool that you can do that!" Lee grinned and Gaara gave a small tug at the corner of his lips.

"I appreciate it. Would you like a drink? I suppose you don't want coffee, you're already awake." Lee smiled bashfully.

"Actually, if you could, I would love one of your drinks." Gaara looked at him confused and then nodded.

"The espresso drink?" Lee dipped his head in agreement. "Glad to hear you enjoyed it." Well that was an understatement if Lee'd ever heard one. Lee considered getting Sasuke one. Sasuke liked coffee. Naruto didn't.

Lee followed Gaara to the front counter. Lee saw the clock over on the wall with the TV's and the time read 5:13. Temari was almost an hour late. Wow. He returned his gaze to Gaara and suddenly Gaara turned to him.

"Would you like it iced or hot?" Lee considered his options. It was rather cold in the building but he really liked the iced drink.

"I will take it cold." He decided and Gaara smirked a bit. He made both of the drinks iced and led Lee to the sitting area. The couches were very comfortable; Lee now knew why Naruto and Sasuke had no qualms spending 3 hours on them. Gaara sipped his drink; his legs crossed and pulled his hood over his head. He was wearing a sweater under his chef coat.

"You are cold?" Lee asked and Gaara nodded.

"Where we lived was very hot all of the time. I'm not used to this kind of weather." He admitted and Lee was happy to hear some sort of tidbit of knowledge on Gaara's life.

"Where did you live?" He asked and Gaara sighed softly.

"The desert. The one across the country." Wow, that was a pretty big move.

"Why did you move?" Lee asked easily and noticed how Gaara tensed up. "Are you ok?"

"I don't want to talk about it." Gaara said stiffly and Lee immediately felt bad.

"Oh I am so sorry; I did not mean to pry." Gaara relaxed a fraction, brought his straw to his lips, and drank his coffee. The silence was deafening and Lee wished he could break it but had no idea what to say. Regrettably, Lee couldn't focus on anything but the mysterious reason why Gaara moved. Thousands of different reasons ran through his head and each was worse than the next. He decided he should stop focusing on that if he were going to concentrate at all.

"How do you like this area?" Lee settled for and Gaara's posture relaxed slightly.

"It's okay. The school is easier than my last school." He admitted simply and Lee wondered how schools could be easier. Wasn't there standardized testing? "It's nice to be somewhere different. Although, I do miss the warmth of the desert."

"You grew up in the desert?" Gaara nodded. "Well I can understand why you would prefer it then. Personally, I like this type of weather. Rainy days are the best days. They are nice to relax in bed and watch movies with friends or family." Lee said with a fond expression, Gaara's expression soured.

"I wouldn't know what that feels like." Gaara said with an air of sadness. Before Lee could question him on it, Gaara stood up and made his way to the kitchen. Lee debated on if he should follow him or not. Was this Gaara wanting to be alone? Did he want him to follow? Lee decided to follow anyway. Gaara should not be alone when he was sad!

Lee made it to the kitchen in time to see Gaara whisking in the butter a few pieces at a time. He stood by the stove and Gaara let his eyes wander to Lee's face. Lee liked the feeling of having those gorgeous eyes on him.

"Next step is whisking in the butter slowly. Then add the heavy cream. Then it's done." Gaara said simply and Lee nodded and was mesmerized at the motion of Gaara whisking. It was oddly calming.

"Does it bother your arm?" Lee asked and Gaara shrugged.

"Not the caramel, but sometimes when I whisk something by hand and its thick it does. For the most part, you get used to it."

"Shit! Lee I am so sorry!" Lee was jerked out of his trance at Temari's voice. She ran into the kitchen completely soaked. "My car died and I had no cell service. I was on the side of the road. I had Shikamaru pick me up, but the rain is so bad. Luckily, I brought extra clothes. I will be right out." She ran into the bathroom and Lee stared sadly at Gaara. Well he supposed it was time to work, not just talk to Gaara.

* * *

"You're really catching on quickly." Temari said, impressed. Lee smiled shyly.

"I was not lying when I said I was a fast learner." Temari found the statement was usually said as a brag, but Lee's tone suggested otherwise. He was a really genuine guy.

"Well, you keep smiling at customers, it's good for business." Lee saluted and Temari smiled at the absurdity of it. "You're weird, Lee." She said, surprisingly fondly. Lee liked the gentleness of her tone. He wasn't used to people calling him names in a nice manner. They usually just made fun of the way he looked or dressed. "I'm impressed you handled the lunch rush very well. Too bad the rain destroyed the breakfast rush. That's where most of the money comes from."

"I bet." He looked sadly at all the delicious pastries and baked goods. "I hope everything sells. I would not want them to go to waste."

"Would you like to take some home with you? Gaara prepared for the breakfast rush of Saturday. There's no way we're going through all of this." Lee smiled appreciatively.

"Only if you are certain. I would love anything Gaara made." Lee paused and flushed at the comment and stared at the floor, embarrassed.

"I'm sure he would appreciate the thought." Temari said with a warm smile.

* * *

"Lee! These are amazing!" Naruto was going to choke if he kept eating that way. Sasuke looked at Naruto as if he'd grown additional appendages.

"Isn't Gaara talented? These are marvelous." Lee praised, eating a scone.

"Gaara made all of this?" Kakashi said, surprised. "How does he find the time?" Lee suddenly got upset at the thought that he left and Gaara was still in the kitchen. He'd been there working for 18 hours! He didn't seem more tired than he normally looked either. He hoped Gaara could find time to sleep soon.

"He does not sleep much." Lee said softly and continued eating his scone.

"This is like the millionth time you've mentioned Gaara since you got the job." Kakashi said bluntly and Lee's face colored and he glared with indignation.

"Aw, Lee has a crush." Naruto teased and Sasuke chuckled, not saying much, but eating a s'mores muffin.

"At least I did not have a date with him on the couch at the café like _some_ people I know." Lee retorted and sent Naruto and Sasuke into another heated debate on how much they hated each other. Lee grinned and Kakashi shook his head.

"Son, you've got some evil bone in you, you know that, right?" Lee just gave him a sly smile.

"A lovers quarrel so soon in the day?" Guy said as he walked in the room, the look on Naruto and Sasuke's faces was priceless. Lee actually bust out laughing

"I would not date someone as big of a loser as _he_ is." Sasuke said childishly and that brought on a whole new argument. Lee really did love his friends.


	5. Chapter 5

On Sunday, Lee arrived at work at 4:45, just so he had time to see Gaara before he started working. He'd never understand the obsession his mind currently had, he didn't think much about it. He just caved.

Kakashi let him borrow the car for today since Sasuke and Naruto went home the day before. Lee would've walked, but the weather was still acting up. Lee told himself he'd run the track after work when the day was warmer.

When he walked in the door, Temari had gone through most of the opening process. Grinding the coffee, brewing the coffee, turning on all the machines, adjusting the espresso grinder, turning the TV's on to various channels. Lee was slightly bummed he couldn't be of more help. He spotted Gaara at the bar, holding a tray of sticky buns and putting them on display on a cake stand with a dome lid. His neck turned to meet Lee's face and Lee smiled brightly.

"Good morning, Gaara!" Temari stared at him in amazement.

"How much coffee did you drink?" She asked and Gaara sighed.

"He doesn't drink coffee. He's just a morning person." Temari looked aghast at the thought and covered her heart, as if the thought offended her. "My thoughts exactly."

"Man, I can't wait until you're trained enough to open so I can sleep if you're a morning person." Temari laughed and Lee shrugged with a smile.

"I would not mind. I am here to help." Temari smiled at him like she was fond of him. That made Lee feel nice, he didn't have too many friends. If his boss liked him enough, Lee would be happy to consider her a friend too.

* * *

When Lee was able to catch a break from the morning rush, he walked into the back to see what Gaara was up to. He needed to stock the front fridge with whole milk and almond milk, so he didn't feel too bad for abandoning Temari. It wasn't like there were any customers.

"Hello Gaara. What are you doing?" Lee asked cheerfully and Gaara glanced up with a scowl.

"An order cake." He said with disdain. "I _hate_ customers and their stupid requests."

"Well what is the request?" Lee asked curiously and Gaara picked up the sheet and with contempt on his face, he read with a sneer,

"A gluten free, vegan vanilla cake with, get this, _lemon curd_ and toasted coconut. _Also_ since buttercream is _too sweet_ , she wants to opt out of that and have me just smother her cake in _jam_." Lee bit his lip to stop himself from laughing. "Not only does lemon curd have butter, but it also has egg yolk in it. Now I have to go to the store to buy dairy free butter because I used all of it making the cake batter. I told her I would do a naked cake style if she didn't want the icing but _jam_ was her bright idea. I never want to answer the phone ever again." Lee couldn't help the giggle, but tried to stifle it with his shoulder.

"I'm so-" Lee snorted, and composed himself. "I'm sorry, Gaara." Lee couldn't help but find the pout on his face ridiculously adorable.

"At least I don't have to make vegan buttercream..." Gaara sighed and spread coconut flakes on a sheet pan and threw it in the oven with much annoyance. Lee had to get out of the kitchen before he lost it.

* * *

It seems that Gaara wasn't the only unlucky one today with customers. Lee had his fair share of nasty people. He wondered if it was the weather or something. Did weather make people crazy? He was quite sure of it after working here.

So far he'd been yelled at for the following:

1) That they weren't a Starbucks (Sorry we have good coffee?)

2) That their coffee at a specialty coffee shop wasn't as cheap as it was at the gas station. (Sorry we have good coffee?)

3) That even though they had endless pastries to choose from, they did not offer breakfast sandwiches on the menu since they... just didn't do breakfast sandwiches.

4) That their macchiato wasn't what Starbucks' macchiato was ("Macchiato literally means "stained" which is because it's a shot of espresso "stained" with a dollop of steamed milk. It's not an upside down latte. If that is what you want, order an upside down latte." –Temari)

5) That different tea sizes are different prices. (I'm sorry you have to pay more for your larger drink)

6) Why is the large tea more expensive than the regular tea when they both use one bag? (Because the cups are bigger so cost more.)

Lee had an endless supply of patience, but the last customer was pushing it.

"I need to order a cake." Thank you for ordering this cake in the middle of the lunch rush. Thank you.

"Of course." Lee nodded enthusiastically and pulled out an order pad. "When is the cake needed?"

"Tonight." Lee paused and stared at her in confusion before quickly melting that expression into a kind one.

"I am terribly sorry, but we require a week's notice for cake orders." He apologized and she scowled at him.

"It's my mom's birthday tonight. I need a cake." There were so many things he wanted to say to her but kept his soft expression, although it pained him.

"I really am so sorry; however it would be impossible for us to do a cake in a few hours. There are preparations for it-"

"So you aren't making my _mother's birthday cake_?" She spat and Lee shook his head slowly.

"No, I am sorry but it is impossible." She shook her head.

"Go talk to the baker or whatever and see if they'll make an exception. It's my mother's _birthday_." She said it as if it were the Queen and everyone needed to heed her wishes. Lee wanted to appease her so he nodded at her with a smile and turned to walk to the kitchen. With the bad mood Gaara was in, he wondered what he could possibly say.

Lee felt badly about leaving Kankuro with the rest of the customers, he was going to say something but he was trying not to laugh so left Kankuro to deal with customers nicely.

Walking into the kitchen, Lee stared at Gaara. He was frowning at the cake in front of him. There was a bowl of a yellow concoction (Lee supposed it was the vegan lemon curd), a bowl of toasted coconut, and three layers of cake, cut and ready to be decorated. He glanced up at Lee and frowned. He took spoon and gathered some of the yellow liquid and picked it up out of the bowl and it just dripped like water back into the bowl.

"This lemon curd won't set up. It's been in the fridge for 4 hours, it's completely liquid, who the hell took this shitty order? I don't do vegan. I don't know _how_ to do vegan." Lee smiled sheepishly and Gaara's shoulders sagged. "What do they want from me now?"

"So... I know you are going to say no but the customer insisted I ask anyway. Is there any possible way you can make a cake for this woman's mother's birthday... tonight?" Gaara's lips pursed and his eyes were dark.

"Do they think I just pull cakes out of my butt?" The way Gaara sounded made it actually seem like he was curious, and Lee bit his lip. Trying not to laugh at an angry Gaara was the hardest thing he'd ever had to do. Twice today Gaara had made him laugh because his obvious disdain for the public. Lee couldn't take it anymore, he laughed, a hearty laugh and he had tears in his eyes.

"I-I am so sorry." He said in-between laughs, now laughing without making any noise. Gaara watched him with parts horror, confusion, and amusement.

It took a minute for Lee to calm down, once he did his face was bright red and he had tears running down his cheeks.

"I am sorry, Gaara. I did not expect you to say something like that." Lee wiped the tears off his face and noticed Gaara looked slightly pleased. "So what should I tell her?"

"That if she loved her mother, she would've thought to order her a cake before her birthday." Gaara said flatly and Lee snorted and stopped himself from laughing again.

"I cannot work with you." Lee said teasingly. "You make me laugh too much." Lee shook his head and left the kitchen, Gaara watched him leave with a slight curl of his lip. He was proud to make Lee lose control like that.

When Lee returned to the counter, Kankuro saw his red face and tear stained cheeks and his eyes widened.

"Oh my god, did Gaara yell at you?!" Lee looked at him surprised and shook his head. "What happened?" Lee bit his lip but the smile on his face was there.

"I will tell you later."

Kankuro was amazed to watch the calm façade Lee conjured to deal with one of the most annoying customers he'd ever seen. How was he able to be so... nice? Maybe this is why Temari told Kankuro he was on the drink station today and Lee was on the register. Kankuro felt envious of the control Lee had on his temper and how he just took verbal abuse with a smile and apologized to _them_ as if they weren't the ones being irrational. Lee was just too much.

* * *

"So what had you smiling like that before?" Kankuro asked an hour later when the lunch rush was gone for the time being. Temari was back, having had to run an errand and was obviously inserting herself in the conversation.

"What happened?" Lee just smiled and shook his head.

"Gaara is very funny." They stared at him with disbelief.

"Gaara made you laugh... so hard... you cried?" Kankuro asked incredulously and Temari shot them both a look.

"Yes." Was all Lee said and cleaned down the espresso machine while Kankuro and Temari shared a look.

* * *

The end of his shift came and Lee went into the bathroom and changed into his workout clothes. He packed his bag with all of his things and threw it over his shoulder, ready to go work out.

He walked into the kitchen and Gaara was leaned over with his head pressed against the metal workbench and his arms dangling uselessly at his sides.

"Gaara? What is wrong?" Lee asked with so much concern, Gaara actually felt the worry for his wellbeing. He moved his head up and pushed the lemon curd down the bench. Lee picked it up and mixed it. It was now 8 hours and it was still completely liquid. "Have you tried adding thickeners?" Gaara's eyes narrowed at the question and Lee figured that was a yes. "Which ones?"

"Cornstarch." Lee thought for a second.

"Xanthan gum?" Gaara stood up for a moment thoughtfully.

"I'll try that I suppose." Lee smiled warmly at him.

"Well, I wish you luck. And I hope you actually sleep tonight." Gaara stared at Lee curiously. "I am going to run the track. If somehow you finish before I am done you are more than welcome to join me. If not, I will see you tomorrow morning." Gaara gave a tentative nod and Lee waved at him happily. "Goodbye Gaara."

* * *

Lee ran six miles and was dripping sweat. He couldn't fathom why he was having such a hard time running today. He kept looking over at the bleachers and felt a stab of disappointment. Was he really upset that Gaara hadn't been able to come?

Lee rubbed his face and jogged over to the football field in the middle of the track and decided to do some pushups and crunches.

And he would deny it if anyone asked if the reason was he was stalling to see if Gaara would actually come.

* * *

The next day, Lee arrived at work and when he walked into the kitchen, Gaara wasn't there. He checked every room he could think of and frowned. Where was Gaara?

He put his stuff down in the bathroom and walked out of the kitchen to start the opening process. It was a school day so he came in earlier and was only staying until 730. It was a 3 ½ hour shift but money is money and if he needed he could always come back.

When Lee looked up after turning on all the coffee brewers, he turned to face the lounge area.

There was Gaara, curled up on the couch with a small blanket, sleeping. Lee was shocked. What was Gaara doing there?

Lee slowly walked over, not wanting to startle him but he couldn't help but be so curious. Since the couch was in an alcove, Lee hadn't seen it until he was standing across from it. It was impossible to see this from the entrance as well so Lee couldn't help but wonder how often Gaara slept there. Was this normal? Weren't his siblings worried about him?

Lee knelt by the couch and stared at Gaara's peaceful expression. His hand reached and he wanted to wake him up but found he couldn't bring himself to do it.

Gaara deserved sleep.

Lee walked back to the counter and made sure to make as little noise as possible. He didn't care if there weren't any pastries today. Gaara needed to sleep as much as he could. Poor thing. The whole thought of it made Lee's heart ache.

Lee wished Gaara was up so he could ask him what was going on. A painful moment later, Lee realized that Gaara may not find that Lee was worth confiding in.


	6. Chapter 6

Temari came in a bit later and paused when she saw most of the morning bake wasn't done. Some things kept for 2 days so there was a couple of display items but everything that needed to be baked fresh every day was left undone. She sent a questioning look to Lee and Lee nudged his head and in Gaara's direction. She slowly walked towards the alcove and saw her brother asleep on the couch.

Temari's heart felt heavy and she looked at the floor. She hoped Lee hadn't figured out why Gaara was sleeping there in the first place. Lee couldn't be that perceptive, could he?

"I am sorry, I have never seen him sleep so I did not want to wake him up." Lee admitted quietly and Temari nodded and walked into the back.

They were due to open in 20 minutes and Lee didn't know what to do. What was there to do? He couldn't bake anything. He walked into the kitchen to see Temari digging through fish tubs of all the morning bake items Gaara had premade and put in the freezer. The ovens were on and she had several trays lined up down the table. Lee didn't know how the morning bake was done. Everything was finished when he got in usually. He quickly joined Temari in traying out the important things.

Temari was grateful Gaara made sure everything was well stocked. She had a 10 quart container of two different muffin batters that she started scooping onto the muffin tins while Lee trayed out several scones. They worked together quickly and efficiently and Temari glanced at the clock. They had to open in 5 minutes. The ovens preheated several minutes ago, but a lot of this took 20 minutes to bake. The first customers would have to get over it.

Temari grabbed all of her dirty dishes and dumped them into the dish pit and opened a door Lee never noticed before on the opposite side of the kitchen. There was no reason he would've noticed it, it was deeper in the kitchen than he normally went. He heard her move around for a minute and she came out.

"Lee?" Lee stared at her with a such soft look, she could never feel like he could harm her brother. Which is why she asked "Do you think you can move Gaara back here? He needs to sleep. Don't worry, he's a heavy sleeper the rare times he actually sleeps." Lee blushed, but nodded anyway. He quickly washed his hands and walked to the couch where Gaara slept.

He really was a sight, wasn't he? Lee loved looking at him. He could never pinpoint his favorite feature Gaara had, he liked them all. Lee wondered what that meant. Lee leaned over and scooped Gaara up from the couch and held him close, following Temari to the back room.

The room was nothing Lee expected it to be. It was almost like... a bedroom? There was another couch, Temari seemed to have pulled it out into a bed though. There was a pipe that shot across the room with a few hangers that had clothes on it that Lee recognized to be Gaara's. What was this room?

Lee placed Gaara on the bed and tucked him in without thinking. Temari stood by the door, watching with a twinge of sadness and felt thankful Lee was there. It was way too early in the morning for Temari to be holding her 16 year old brother like a bride. Lee stared at Gaara for another moment and then seemed to realize she was there with him and quickly scurried out of the room with a blush. Temari stared at Gaara for another minute, really looking at him.

When had her brother become a man?

* * *

The early morning passed by with little trouble. The morning was slow enough that it didn't matter there weren't any baked goods for the first hour. Gaara still wasn't awake by then but Temari told Lee not to worry when she saw him passing glances every so often to the kitchen.

Soon enough it got too busy for Lee to spare Gaara a passing glance, which was fine. Lee was happy for the distraction and fell into an easy routine. Temari was happy that when she hired Lee he said he was a fast learner, and actually was a fast learner. It also helped that he was very caring over her little brother. Despite everything going on between them, she loved him dearly.

"Hey bushy brow!" Lee paused in the middle of making a drink too look up and see his two best friends making an appearance. "Whoa, talk about busy." Naruto laughed, seeing the line of marked cups waiting at Lee's side. There were at least seven. Lee was not having a good time.

"Hello Naruto! Hello Sasuke! What brings you in this morning?" Lee asked, holding the foam back with a spoon to get just the steamed milk out from the frothing pitcher. He slid the cup on the bar. "Flat white!" Lee grabbed the next cup, scanned the markings on it and began making the drink.

"Looking for a job! I heard you still needed a dishwasher." Naruto said with a grin and Lee gave him an uncomfortable look. He loved Naruto, he just didn't feel that putting Naruto with breakable dishes next to _Gaara_ all day was good for anyone.

"Well, if you would like to, you can go talk to Kankuro. He is not on the clock yet." Lee nudged his head over to the very end of the bar where Kankuro was lounging and playing on his phone. "It does not look like he is busy." Naruto gave him a grin and ran over to Kankuro to bother him. Lee gave Sasuke a look.

"I know. I hope he doesn't get the job either. That kid cannot handle any kind of responsibility." Sasuke said flatly and sat at the bar stool closest to the espresso machine to talk to Lee more.

"I would love for Naruto to get a job and learn responsibility. Nothing would make me happier. I just feel as though it should not be... here." Lee said as eloquently as he could and Sasuke snorted.

"Yeah you said it. I don't know why he wants to be a dishwasher anyway. Doesn't that job suck?" Lee shrugged, never have been a dishwasher. He wasn't sure of the parameters.

"Are you looking for a job, Sasuke?" Lee asked and put the next drink on the counter. "Mad Max!"

"Not really. I mean, Itachi pretty much does everything. Ever since our parents died, he just wants to have control over everything. I think if I got a job it would stress him out." Lee frowned.

"He is going to have to get over that eventually. You are not his baby forever." Lee teased and Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"I know that. He doesn't seem to want to accept it. Remember my 16th birthday party?" Lee held back a smirk. Everyone remembered Sasuke's 16th birthday party. "Yeah, so you're preaching to the choir, Lee. Let's not forget, if I even thought about dating, he'd probably implode in on himself. You know Itachi."

"He loves you!" Lee argued with a smile. "Some people would want nothing more than their brother's love!" Sasuke scowled.

"I don't think I would." Lee shook his head with a smile.

"That is because you have an ample amount of it. If you did not, I can promise you would want it." Lee said simply and put another drink on the counter. Sasuke was impressed with the speed of Lee's drink making skills. "Pot O' Greed!"

"Come on! Please! I'm an AWESOME dish washer!" They heard Naruto shout and Kankuro glowered in Lee's direction and Lee smiled sheepishly.

"Suppose I shouldn't have told him about Kankuro." Lee mused and started on the next drink.

* * *

After Lee's shift, he was worried to notice Gaara never woke up. He wanted to check in on him but he wasn't close enough to Gaara to actually peek in the room and ask. Temari was glad for them to leave, now Naruto couldn't harass her or Kankuro anymore.

Unfortunately, for Sasuke, the second they walked out of the café, Itachi was pulling in.

"Are you serious?' Sasuke groaned. "What the hell is he doing here? I drove myself."

Itachi got out of the car and Lee couldn't help but admire Itachi. He was tall and slender with a very easy on the eyes face. His hair was pulled back into a braid today. He was always in a business casual outfit. Probably from his office job, but Lee had seen him on his weekends and he dressed the same then too.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Sasuke asked as Itachi walked up to them. Itachi ignored him and flicked his forehead. Sasuke scowled.

"Itachi! Your new glasses look fantastic." Lee complimented and Sasuke glared at Lee, as if complimenting his brother was the worst thing he'd ever done.

"Thank you, Lee. I didn't know you would be here. Honestly I just stop here sometimes to get something sweet. You don't have to be embarrassed." Itachi's voice was always so gratingly calm, it got on Sasuke's nerves all the more.

"Yeah whatever." Sasuke crossed his arms and turned the other way. Itachi raised his eyebrow, Sasuke was always embarrassed to have him around, but this was ridiculous.

"Did I do something to bother you, Sasuke?" Itachi asked slowly and Sasuke glared and stomped off. Itachi shook his head and sighed. "Look out for him, would you? I don't know what's been bothering him but he's been like this all week. It's starting to get... really annoying. It was nice seeing you." Itachi waved to Lee and Lee waved back. A few moments later Naruto stumbled out of the shop with a victorious grin.

"Hey, was that Itachi?" Lee nodded. "Ohh man!" He cackled. "I bet Sasuke is throwing a tantrum now!"

"Yes. What is Sasuke's problem anyway?" Lee asked and Naruto shrugged.

"Who the hell knows. Anyway, onto more important matters, you are now looking at a very _employed_ best friend of yours!" Lee forced a smile.

He wasn't looking forward to working with his friend. Naruto would be... interesting.

* * *

The school day seemed longer now that Lee worked right before school started. Lee wondered if he would see Gaara at all today.

The day was weird. Sasuke was having a hissy fit, which wasn't completely uncommon for him, it was just the way he was having it. Something was different about him and Lee knew it had something to do with Itachi. He just couldn't understand why.

Naruto seemed completely oblivious to the obvious moping Sasuke was doing and chatted his ear off each time they were around each other. Lee knew for sure something was wrong when Sasuke didn't even try to make a scathing remark or call him names.

Lee frowned to himself and made it his mission to figure out what was bothering his friend.

"Hey guys!" Lee glanced up and his face warmed instantly. It was Sakura! Lee adored their friend Sakura. She never failed to bring a smile to his face! Well, there was the one time when he asked her out and she didn't react very well. To be fair she didn't say "no", just "ewww". Which honestly, still isn't a no.

"Hello Sakura! How is your day so far?" Lee asked kindly, happy for the distraction from Sasuke's sour mood.

"My day is great, thanks. I heard you got a job. Congratulations, Lee! That is amazing for you. I know you really want to help your parents with their dojo. I know you can do anything you set your mind to!" Lee smiled gratefully and nodded his head at her kind words.

"Thank you, Sakura. Truly, that means a lot." She smiled softly in response and averted her attention to Sasuke and her smile faltered. "Do not ask. I do not know." Lee said simply and she sighed and shook her head. Lee could tell she was disappointed at Sasuke's mood, but honestly couldn't bring himself to care as much as he usually did. His mind was too preoccupied on his little red headed friend. Lee never knew he could miss just small interactions with someone. He looked forward to seeing Gaara at work, not seeing him was just... a bummer.

The bell rang and lockers were slammed all around them. Lee already had all of his books in his bag on his shoulder and waved to his friends. He was off to gym with Kankuro. Hopefully, he could ask how Gaara was doing.

* * *

Kankuro wasn't in school that day either. Lee was beginning to feel dejected at the lack of information. How was he supposed to concentrate in math if he didn't know how Gaara was? Lee rubbed his temple; he hadn't realized how bad his headache was getting until just now. At least school was almost over. He was going to ask Temari if she needed him at work today. This would give him the excuse to go check in on Gaara.

"Man I can't believe we have to do a stupid project!" Naruto cried with a scowl. "I hate doing projects!"

"Who does?" Sasuke deadpanned and Naruto glared at him.

"So you finally talk." Naruto said blankly and Sasuke rolled his eyes and walked to his locker. "Man, what is his problem?"

"Little late to the party, Naruto." Lee laughed and walked to his own locker and glanced through his agenda to see what homework he had to remember the proper books to pack.

"You going to work, Lee?" Naruto asked, no book-bag or books on his person.

"I will see if they need me." Lee said with a smile.

"Alright. I don't start until next week so survive without me till then!" Lee tried his hardest not to laugh and quickly ran out of school. He had to weave in and out of the crowd and in-between busses. He rarely left school on time because of all the craziness that happened when people were trying to get home. Lee pushed open the door to the café and Shikamaru's face greeted him.

"Hey Lee, since its Monday you really don't need to be here." Lee's face colored, if he couldn't work, how could he check on Gaara?

"Gaara is fine." Temari said, from one of the couches. "He's up and baking again. You can go say hello." Lee smiled thankfully at her and walked into the kitchen.

Gaara was fine. He was making rugelach, which didn't look very fun to do.

"Gaara! How are you?" Lee asked happily and Gaara glanced up curiously, but didn't speak. "I heard you were sleeping a lot today. I didn't see you in school and-"

"-You were worried?" Gaara half ended Lee's sentence and was half just curious. Lee smiled and nodded and Gaara tilted his head to the side. "There's no need to be worried about me."

"I will always worry about you." Lee said easily, not bothering to blush at the comment, he meant it. Plus, it was nice for Gaara to be the one to blush for a change.


	7. Chapter 7

The week flew by without much incident. Lee hadn't worked much since there wasn't really any hours. Temari had him scheduled Friday morning, Saturday, Sunday and Monday mornings. The rest of the week he was free unless they needed to call him in which was rare. Everyone that worked there was really good at getting there on time and not calling out.

By the time Saturday came around, Lee was so anxious to spend time with Gaara he couldn't keep himself calm all night Friday. Gaara didn't work Fridays it seemed so it was nice to see him longer than the few times they saw each other in the hallway. The other day Lee nearly melted at the sight of Gaara in the hallway with some flour on his cheek. He walked over to the younger male and brushed Gaara's cheek with his thumb. Gaara stared at him wide eyed and Lee just smiled sheepishly and mumbled "you had flour on your face" and walked off before he could embarrass himself any further.

Lee strolled in a few minutes before 4:30 to get everything ready. Temari left him alone to open considering he knew how to do it now and she wasn't a fan of getting out of bed early anyway.

Lee rushed through the morning routine in order to garner a few minutes with his red headed friend. He brewed the 3 main coffees (light, dark, decaf) and turned on the lights and took the chairs off the tables. Gaara walked out of the kitchen with a tray of sweets and Lee couldn't help but grin at him. His heart fluttered at the sight of the neutral faced teen.

"Gaara! Good morning! How are you?" He asked enthusiastically and Gaara rubbed his eyes and shrugged.

"Could be better, I suppose. Can't complain, really." Lee rushed to the counter and leaned over it and watched Gaara fill the cake stands with assorted pastries.

"They look amazing, Gaara." Lee complimented and Gaara paused, glanced over the pastries he was holding, grabbed the nicest cinnamon roll he had and handed it to Lee. "You didn't have to..." Lee's cheeks colored and Gaara looked at him and shrugged again.

"They're your favorite." He said simply and continued filling the pastry counter. Lee couldn't explain how that made him feel. His heart stuttered in his chest and for a second he didn't breathe, momentarily forgetting to.

"Thank you, Gaara." Lee smiled shyly and bit into the warm cinnamon roll. The fact that Gaara remembered they were his favorite just made him so happy.

* * *

By the time Temari came in, they were almost completely sold out of treats and Gaara was irritated. Lee didn't hear Gaara's entire rant but it was something along the lines of

"I feel like all I make anymore is fucking muffins"

The curse was new but it sent a shiver down Lee's spine. Why did Gaara cursing excite him? And just how many muffins did Gaara make all week?

Kankuro came in not too long after Temari to help with the breakfast rush. It surprised Lee since it was usually just him and Temari in the morning. Temari turned to Lee with a smile.

"Hey, think you can help Gaara out in the kitchen? He seems pretty stressed out." Lee's heart beat erratically and he forgot how to speak for a minute but when he finally found his voice, he was way too enthusiastic for it to seem normal.

"Yes! I will help him! Of course!" Temari smiled at him and he stood there awkwardly, turned red, and quickly made his way to the kitchen. Behind him Kankuro shook his head.

"Do you think Gaara knows he has an admirer?" Temari swat Kankuro on the shoulder and chuckled.

"If he doesn't know, he'll find out eventually..."

* * *

"Gaara! Temari told me I should assist you! Is there something I can do to help?" Gaara glanced up and looked back down at his list.

"I suppose if you want to you can help... I have to make more cinnamon rolls." Lee grinned; he wondered if this was a jab at him loving cinnamon rolls, or if it were merely a coincidence.

"Yes of course! What should I do?" Gaara gave him the very simple task of heating up milk to a warm temperature and adding yeast. He said give the yeast 5 minutes and it should foam up and they can use it.

Simple enough, right? Apparently not.

"Why isn't my yeast rising?" Lee asked suddenly and Gaara stopped cutting butter and walked over to the cup and sniffed it.

"The milk was too hot and you killed the yeast." He said simply and went back to cutting the butter. Lee's face felt hot and he quickly dumped the milk, rinsed the cup, and tried again.

The same result.

"I-I am so sorry, Gaara. I killed the yeast again." Lee felt mortified. Gaara looked back up and then walked over to a drawer and pulled out a thermometer.

"Heat the milk up to 105-110 degrees Fahrenheit." Turns out it was a lot harder to do than Lee thought. Where one side of the pot it was at the correct temperature, the other side was 120 degrees.

Lee was becoming increasingly frustrated and humiliated that he couldn't even heat milk up to the right temperature. He didn't know how Gaara even put up with him ruining yeast 4 separate times.

Finally the fifth time he got it right and tried not to feel proud, but he did. More embarrassed than proud, but proud nonetheless. Gaara nodded at him and was finally able to make the dough. Once the dough was ready, he greased a bowl and plopped the dough in and put it in the proofer and set a timer for an hour. Lee really hoped he didn't embarrass himself more...

* * *

Turns out, he could.

Gaara told Lee to roll out the cinnamon roll dough, spread butter on it, then sprinkle a mixture of brown sugar and cinnamon. Then after that, cut them with the bench scraper and put them in a pan to proof.

"Lee." Gaara said, looking down at the rolls. Lee looked up, on his second round of dough. "Why are the cinnamon rolls... lacking cinnamon?" Lee glanced over, then back down at the dough he rolled up and groaned.

"I am so sorry. I forgot to put the cinnamon sugar in." Lee's face couldn't be more red and he felt pure humiliation in his bones. He messed up 6 times already! "I will unroll each of them individually and fix them! I am so sorry, Gaara. I will do better!" Gaara looked at him with a brow raised, then looked back at the butter rolls.

"Don't bother. I'll make do with these." He picked up the pan and put it in front of his work station.

"B-but Gaara! I will fix it! It is my fault." Lee was mortified and even more so when he realized he was shaking. Gaara looked at him and with the most earnest face he could muster said,

"Lee. It's fine. I will use them. Part of being a good chef in any instance isn't not making mistakes, its fixing mistakes. Besides, I've been wanting to try doing something new for a while and now... I have the chance. It's fine. Calm down." Lee frowned but didn't say anything and slowly unrolled his unsugared cinnamon roll dough, silently thanking whomever was out there that he didn't cut these ones already too.

Lee watched with interest as Gaara examined the cinnamon rolls. He took them out one by one, thankfully one roll of dough only produced 8 rolls. He unfurled them on the table and greased the pan and rolled them thinner and added them to the pan. He reached into the refrigerator and pulled out some pie fillings and spread a thin layer on the bottom layer, and repeated. In the end it looked like a dessert lasagna. It was four layers, he needed 2 rolls per layer. He then looked up at Lee and smiled slightly.

"See? It's fine. Four berry dessert lasagna. Raspberry, strawberry, blackberry and cherry." Lee smiled softly at Gaara's attempts to cheer him up. He was thankful.

* * *

"How is it going in here?" It was Temari's first time in the kitchen since Lee came back two hours ago. She walked to the fridge and pulled out several cartons of half-and-half.

"It's going well." Gaara said simply and Lee looked at him surprised. Well? Lee messed up more times in an hour than Gaara probably ever had.

"Good! Maybe Lee could come back and help you more often!" Temari teased and Gaara nodded simply.

"That's fine with me." Lee's heart thudded in his chest and he held his breath. Why would Gaara want to work with him? He was doing terribly.

"Awesome. Lee, you're welcome back up whenever you'd like. Right now we aren't busy but we may need you for the lunch rush." Temari left the kitchen and Lee bit the inside of his cheek.

"Why is it fine with you if I stay when I messed up so much?" He asked and Gaara stopped cracking eggs and turned his head to face Lee.

"How else are you to learn? You don't have any kitchen experience. I have plenty." He reasoned and went back to cracking eggs. "Besides..." He said, and Lee looked up at him but Gaara's head didn't turn. "I enjoy your company." Lee smiled warmly and stood next to Gaara to look at the list.

"What should I do next?"

* * *

"Gaara?" Gaara looked up to stare at Lee as he walked into the kitchen. It was now 1, which was the time Lee left. Temari tried to convince him to leave at 12, but Lee seemed to enjoy being there for whatever reason.

"Yes?" Gaara was dumping the contents of the mixing bowl into a 12qt cambro.

"Um... Would you...Hm... Do you want..." Lee was fidgeting which was something he didn't normally do. It only got worse when Gaara looked up to gaze at him questioningly. What had him so nervous? "When you're done with work...would you like to do something? With me?" Gaara seemed confused at Lee's question. Why would he want to spend more time with him? They spent most of the day together. After the cinnamon roll mix up, Lee was too embarrassed to talk much so most of their work was done in a comfortable silence.

"Do what?" Gaara asked blankly and pressed the lid on the cambro and started dating and labeling it with tape.

"I... I don't know." Lee felt more embarrassed now than he did before. And he was so damn nervous! "Would you like to go for a walk with me?"

"A walk?" Gaara slid the cambro into the storage fridge and pulled off his black headband and stuffed it in his chef pants pocket. "Where to?" Lee pointed in a random direction, not really knowing where they were in correlation to the path he was referring to.

"T-the railtrail. Have you been on it yet? It's like 14 miles-not that we have to walk 14 miles. It's like a huge loop through this town and other neighboring towns. A lot of businesses put their signs on the path and just a few minutes off of the trail in any direction is a lot of places to shop and eat and stuff. You don't have to go if you don't want to. I mean, you've been working all day since who knows when so you probably don't want to walk right now which is okay, but I mean we could really do anything if you wanted to-"

"Lee. Stop." Lee closed his mouth tightly and bit his tongue. He couldn't help rambling. He wanted to talk to Gaara so badly he felt anxious and he was just nervous to talk to him. And he asked him out? Well, not exactly on a date. Was it a date? Would Gaara consider it a date? Would he think Lee was asking him out on a date and get really weirded out and not talk to him anymore. "Lee, stop thinking too. You look like you're going to pass out." Gaara's deadpan voice pulled Lee out of his thoughts and right now he was too nervous to be mortified. "Sure, let me get changed and we can go."

Lee let out a long puff of breath and Gaara ran his fingers through his hair. He hated wearing a headband, it pushed his hair up funny and his forehead sweat and made his hair all greasy and gross. It wasn't like he was going somewhere special. They were just taking a walk. He didn't need to look immaculate. The weather was also supposed to be nice out today so maybe it would be good for him. A nice 64 degrees, perfect sweater weather.

Gaara walked to the door on the opposite end of the bathroom and closed it behind him. Lee immediately felt his forehead, he was sweating so bad, he was sure he had a fever. What made him so nervous about being around Gaara? Did he want to be his friend that badly?

Lee went to the bathroom and changed his shoes to his running shoes and removed his hat and apron. He looked at himself in the mirror and sighed. He knew he wasn't very cute, his eyes too wide, his eyebrows to thick, his body was lanky no matter how hard he worked out. He wondered if anyone would ever like him.

He shook his head and got himself out of those thoughts. He wasn't sure what had him so down on himself right now. Who was he trying to impress? Gaara? Lee's face heated up and he felt a shiver down his spine. No. Certainly not Gaara.

Lee ran his fingers through his hair and made sure it was okay looking. Honestly though, how do you mess up a bowl cut? When he was a least slightly satisfied, he grabbed his green windbreaker jacket and walked out of the bathroom.

* * *

Gaara stared around the room and fingered through all of the clothes hanging from the pipe. He really didn't have anything good to wear. He didn't have many clothes. With a frown, Gaara removed his checkered pants and put them into his laundry bag and pulled on a pair of gray sweatpants and his comfortable maroon pullover. He had a small mirror and took his brush and tried to tame his hair but no matter what he did, it stuck out haphazardly in every direction. He sighed and grabbed his green beanie and put it over his head. He stared at himself for a minute and thought about the temperature. Was it cold enough for this hat? Was this hat being too dramatic? He exhaled deeply and tugged the hat off. Whatever. Messy hair it was.

He put on his old shoes. He only had two pairs. One work pair and one everyday pair. He silently wondered when his father would allow him to get new clothes and new shoes. He stared at his bedroom a final time and closed the door behind him.


	8. Chapter 8

When Gaara saw Lee standing in the kitchen waiting for him, he wondered if Lee would bring up the fact that there was another room and what was its purpose. Lee didn't and Gaara didn't know if he was thankful or not. With everything going on still heavy in his mind, he thinks he would've liked someone to talk to about it. However, in the same regard, Gaara didn't like nosiness so he wondered if he would've been put off by Lee's question. Gaara sighed and made his way to Lee. Lee smiled at him warmly.

"Ready to go?" Lee prefaced, and held the kitchen door open for Gaara. Gaara walked through the doors and glanced around at the front of the house and saw Temari and Shikamaru were bickering in the corner and Kankuro was playing on his phone in front of the espresso machine. It was surprisingly dead for a Saturday afternoon.

Kankuro jerked his gaze from his phone long enough to notice Gaara walking towards the exit with Lee.

"Hey! Where ya guys going?" He asked and Gaara stared at him.

"For a walk." He said simply and Lee smiled at him and opened the next door for him too, like a gentleman. Kankuro watched them fall into a steady rhythm walking next to each other and chuckled to himself. He wondered how much longer until one of them said something to the other.

* * *

"This is an entrance of the railtrail! It is very cool that it is so close to your family's business because people walking through will be able to see signs for your café and get off the trail to go stop by. It is very good for business, especially in the summer time." Lee explained happily and Gaara nodded at the information.

They walked side by side for a while. Both were completely lost in thought and trying to make conversation by finding it harder than they thought.

 _What should I say? What is there to talk about? Baking? School? Would Gaara appreciate these topics or is he so bored of them from being around them all day? Should I ask about the other day? No! That is not something to bring up. If he wanted to talk to me about that, he would have already. I just wish I could figure out what he wanted to talk about!_ Lee thought with a slight frown of his lips.

 _I've never really had a friend before so I have no idea what I'm doing. What does Lee like to talk about? Well... It's Lee. He'll ramble about anything, really. Why did he invite me on this walk? I don't even know what to say. Is this silence awkward? Am I being awkward? I wish I had any social experience whatsoever. I'll just stay quiet until Lee finds something to ramble about._ Gaara silently decided and stared at the ground and watched his feet make each step.

The air was nice on their faces. It was so warm standing in front of the oven all day, it was nice to get out into fresh air. Gaara never sought out to take a walk, but he found it nice walking with Lee. He wondered if they'd do it again after this or if this would be such a failure, they wouldn't want to walk together again.

"Well it's October 15th. Its autumn, my favorite season. When I was seven years old I would wait until autumn came and I would bug my dad and Kakashi to bring me to the farm, in the next town over. They had so much bales of hay, they created tunnels the kids could play in and they decorated it all with pumpkins. I could spend hours crawling through there, I had so much fun! My dad and Kakashi made it a tradition to bring me every year from then on and it was great, until I outgrew it. Sometimes the thought still bums me out. Do you have an autumn tradition?" Lee asked and Gaara absorbed his story and felt the positive energy from it.

"Um..." Gaara narrowed his eyes in thought. Did he have a tradition? "For most of my life, around autumn when the leaves changed color, I would collect the first leaf that I saw fall and I would tape it onto my wall. I had leaves from when I was three." Gaara's story was sweet, but Lee felt weird hearing it. As though it weren't a happy story.

"Do you still do it?" Lee asked and Gaara shook his head. "When did you stop?" Gaara didn't know what he was thinking. How could he talk about his father to someone who was nearly a stranger? But, Lee wasn't a stranger. He was... safe. He was one of the only people Gaara met that he wasn't wary of. Lee couldn't be underhanded if he tried. So Gaara took in a deep breath.

"I moved and they all stayed behind." Gaara told himself if Lee asked for more information he would give it willingly but for whatever reason, he couldn't bring the words out.

"That is so sad, I am so sorry. Why did you not bring them with you?" Lee asked and Gaara's heart thudded in his chest. If he answered that, would Lee have more questions? Would Gaara be able to answer them?

"My... father ripped them off my wall and set them on fire." Gaara said quietly and Lee's steps faltered and he stopped. Gaara stopped to turn to Lee and Lee looked heartbroken.

"Why would he do that? You had them for so long." Lee needed to keep his emotions out of this conversation or it was going to become very passionate.

"I'm honestly not entirely sure myself." Gaara admitted and continued walking. It took a moment for Lee to collect himself but he started walking and caught up to Gaara.

"I am sorry that happened to you. I have never seen your father. Is he here?" Gaara's blood felt like ice in his veins.

"Yes." The shortness of the answer told Lee all he needed to know. Don't talk anymore about this subject. Got it. The feeling gave Lee immense sadness. Gaara didn't seem to have a good relationship with his dad. Lee didn't know what he'd do if he didn't have a good relationship with his parents.

"We should give you a new autumn tradition. I think we both need it." Lee said with a smile and Gaara perked a brow and Lee began to walk with more purpose.

* * *

"An apple orchard?" Lee nodded enthusiastically. "Why?"

"To go apple picking! Have you ever been? I know you lived in the desert." Gaara shook his head. "I'm so happy to bring you for your first time!"

"Why would people want to walk around and pick apples?" Gaara asked and Lee took it in stride.

"Because it is fun. Let us go!"

Lee brought Gaara to the farm entrance and the wonderful smell of cider filled the air. Lee wanted to show Gaara everything good about the autumn season to try to replace the bad memory with more good ones.

The two walked into the small shop and Lee bought two hot ciders and two apple cider donuts. Gaara tried to chip in some money but Lee pushed his wallet away and paid for everything himself. Gaara pinkened slightly but said nothing. He thanked Lee after receiving the drink and donut and they walked outside to where the wagons were stored. Nearly all of the wagons were rusted and made really annoying squeaking noises when the wheels moved but Lee insisted that was part of the experience of picking your own fruits and vegetables. Gaara shrugged and they dragged it to a nearby table and sat down to eat their donuts. The area was damp because of the rainy weather the past few days but everything was fine.

"They are so warm." Lee sighed happily. "I love fresh donuts." Gaara looked at Lee thoughtfully, but said nothing. "Do you like your donut?" Gaara nodded and took a sip of his cider.

He had to admit he liked the taste. He wondered if he could convince Temari to get some for the shop or if it would be too late in the season. Gaara then remembered the large order of pumpkin spice and pumpkin puree they were waiting on and frowned. He was going to have to make a lot of pumpkin treats in the next few weeks. They'd already been asked about it several times. He didn't see what the big deal was. Apple cider was more to his liking. They should increase their apple pastries.

Once they were done, Lee stood up and picked up his drink and wiped his mouth on his sleeve. He grabbed the wagon handle and looked at Gaara.

"Are you ready to go?" Gaara nodded and grabbed his own drink and both of them headed off into the orchards. The wagon was difficult to pull, getting stuck in the thick muddy dirt, but Lee was happy for it anyway.

Gaara didn't realize there would be so many different kinds of apples. Also, there were a lot of fall vegetables and even concord grapes. Gaara wasn't particularly a fan of concord grapes, they were much too sweet, but Lee was thrilled.

They walked through several rows of apple trees and Lee exclaimed in happiness. Gaara glanced at the sign and it read _Snapdragon_.

"These are amazing!" Lee climbed up the tree and started picking the apples he thought looked the best. Gaara stood at the base of the tree and looked up. Lee dropped a few apples down into Gaara's hands and Gaara began stuffing the bag they got. Lee kept giggling and climbed higher in the tree.

Gaara began to get curious. He'd never climbed up a tree before. Watching Lee do it was fascinating. He was so nimble and he got so high up so quickly. Soon Lee sat at the top of the tree and looked down at Gaara.

"Come up here! It is a nice view!" Gaara pursed his lips to the side in thought and grabbed hold of the lowest branch and began pulling himself up.

It took Gaara longer than Lee to get up the tree. He was very slow and careful with his movements, whereas Lee just essentially sprinted up the tree. Gaara made it halfway and he was able to see Lee more clearly. Lee was beaming down at him with his wonderful grin.

Was it normal for that grin to make Gaara's heart thud heavily in his chest? Or was that just a side effect of tree climbing?

Lee helped Gaara once he could reach him and pulled him up to the top. Gaara hugged the top of the tree more than Lee did, he was just leaning on it slightly. Gaara peeked out of the leaves and they were able to see down the rows of trees into the beautiful lake on property. It sparkled in the sunlight. Despite it not being very bright outside because of the gloominess of the weather lately, the lake looked lovely. The smell in the air was damp wet air and it was such a nice smell. Lee loved the smell of a rainy day. He looked over at Gaara and smiled softly.

Parts of Gaara's face were illuminated by the sun that was able to stream through the holes in the leaves. The foliage behind him was so green it was nearly translucent and made his red hair stand out stunningly. One of his eyes was hit by the sunlight and since Lee was so close to him, he could really see the deep aqua color he loved so much. Lee fumbled with his phone in his pocket discreetly and once his camera was activated, he snapped a candid picture. When he looked at the screen, he couldn't help the smirk on his lips. Gaara looked just as perfect in the picture as he had right in front of him.

Gaara looked at Lee questioningly and Lee grinned widely and showed Gaara the picture he took. Gaara slowly grabbed Lee's phone and stared at the picture in wonder.

"Why did you take this?" Gaara asked after a few moments of contemplation.

"You looked perfect and I had to capture it." Lee admitted and felt embarrassed at his wording. Gaara looked up at him in amazement. Perfect? No one had ever described him that way. He wasn't perfect. Gaara was the most flawed person he knew. It was almost... amazing to think that Lee thought he looked perfect.

Gaara looked back down at the phone and scanned the picture, trying to look at himself through Lee's eyes. When Gaara saw the picture he didn't see perfection. He saw the red hair no one else in the family had. He saw his mother's eye color and his father's eye shape. He saw the flaws of his skin and the scar he had on his jaw from his fight with his dad. He saw the heavy bags under his eyes. Gaara wasn't perfect. Why would Lee think he was?

Without another word, Gaara handed Lee his phone back and he saw Lee smile at the picture before he slid it back into his pocket. Gaara wondered why the action made him feel as warm as it did.

Lee picked another apple and bit into it making a noise of delight. He handed Gaara the same apple and Gaara stared at it for a moment and then grabbed it from Lee's grasp. Gaara took a tentative bite to the other side of the apple, where Lee hadn't bitten and found himself pleasantly surprised at the taste of the apple. It was ridiculously sweet and super crisp. It was delicious. Gaara took another bite and handed it back to a happy looking Lee.

They shared the entire apple sitting up in the tree and Gaara found himself examining Lee more closely now. Lee's hair was always super straight, without blemish, unlike his own. However, now Lee's hair was tousled and there was a twig or two stuck in his hair. He had juice from the apple on the corner of his mouth, and he continued to eat even the core of the apple. Gaara thought that was odd, but didn't say anything. Lee pulled up the hood to his windbreaker and a few strands of his hair curled out of the hood. His jacket wasn't zipped up all the way and Gaara could see the top of his collarbones. His neck wasn't ridiculously skinny, but it was slender. Gaara could see his hair curling around his neck. Lee held the stem of the apple, the only part he didn't eat, and his eyes were filled with mirth. Gaara shook his head with a smile on his lips and took a picture of Lee before Lee could even tell what he was doing.

"You took my picture?" Lee asked and Gaara nodded with a slight smirk. "Why?" He asked and Gaara tapped on the picture icon to show Lee and handed him the phone.

"Because you look perfect." Lee's eyes softened at the statement and he looked at the picture. Lee didn't want to think of any flaws he had, he just wanted to look at a picture that through Gaara's eyes, was perfect.

* * *

After picking an obscene amount of apples, the two walked through the muddy path between rows of trees. Gaara was getting annoyed with the bag of apples that kept toppling over and spilling the apples all over the wagon.

"Lee, why did we pick so many apples?" He asked and Lee laughed.

"Because picking apples is fun!" Gaara frowned at the bag but said nothing to object. Lee stopped the wagon and Gaara almost tripped over it, surprised by the sudden stop. Lee picked up the bag of apples that was so full, they couldn't tie it, and motioned for Gaara to sit in the wagon. Gaara went to argue but Lee insisted that he sit down. Gaara quickly sat in the wagon and Lee placed the bag between his legs to prop it up. It was kind of uncomfortable because the sides of the wagon were digging into his legs and he had to hug the big bag of apples to ensure they wouldn't move, but it was a funny sight for Lee and Lee snapped another picture of Gaara sitting in the wagon, hugging a bag of apples. Gaara wasted no time and took a picture of Lee pulling the wagon along in retaliation.

They were almost back to the farm itself to pay for the apples when something caught Lee's sight. Lee held up one finger in a "wait a minute" fashion and walked over a few yards and leaned down and picked something up. He walked back over to Gaara and handed it to him. Gaara looked at it and it was a red leaf, nearly the color of his hair. It was probably an oval shaped leaf originally but it was slightly ripped so it looked like a lopsided heart. Gaara stared up at Lee as he picked up the wagon handle.

"You can start a new wall if you'd like. I just thought that was a nice leaf." Lee grinned at Gaara and Gaara looked down at the leaf again and couldn't help but smile.


	9. Chapter 9

Lee wound up having to buy two separate, sturdy bags to carry the apples. They had so much fun picking them but forgot they walked there and didn't have a wagon to drag them home. Luckily there were bags that could go over both shoulders like a backpack so it wasn't incredibly difficult. Lee thought Gaara looked positively adorable wearing a bag like that. He supposed Gaara could do anything and he would find it adorable though.

"What are we doing now?" Gaara asked, breaking the comfortable silence as they walked down the trail.

"That depends on you, Gaara. Are you hungry? I know we ate a lot of apples but are you hungry for some savory food?" Gaara considered it and nodded. "Then we shall go get some food."

Lee and Gaara wound up getting pizza in town. Gaara insisted on paying since Lee paid for everything else and Lee relented finally and let Gaara pay for it.

Gaara wanted to pay for the pizza, even though he knew he shouldn't. He didn't have much money, truthfully. He knew Temari and Kankuro got paid for working but he didn't. His father owned the building and was in charge of payroll. He'd told Gaara the fact that he was letting him stay in a building he owned was payment enough. Gaara didn't disagree. Fighting with his father his entire life had just worn down his confidence and self-worth. Gaara didn't press matters on payment because he did believe he owed his father more than even that. So he worked all the time and occasionally he got money. He never knew why, just sometimes there would be money in his account, never more than $100 and it was rare enough to be a surprise each time. He suspected Temari had some hand in it.

The pizza was only $12 and he had $15 in his account which means he had $3 until he would mysteriously get money again. He hoped if he worked hard and kept pushing out things for the business to sell, his father would see some sort of worth in his work but it hasn't really happened yet. He also hadn't seen his father in at least 3 weeks, not that he was complaining. Rasa had some complex where he wouldn't let Gaara go a moment without an insult when he was around. Nothing was good enough.

* * *

"Are you ok?" Lee asked quietly and Gaara jerked his head up. He didn't notice he zoned out looking at his pizza until the weird looks from Lee.

"Oh. I'm fine." Gaara blinked a few times, trying to get himself out of a daze.

"Would you like something to drink?" Gaara was embarrassed suddenly. He bought the pizza but nothing to drink for Lee. He couldn't afford two drinks, he didn't think.

"Oh I didn't buy you anything to drink, sorry. What would you like?" Lee smiled softly at him.

"No, you paid for the pizza, drinks are on me. Are you thirsty?" Gaara was thirsty but he just felt so bad that he shook his head no. "Are you sure?" A nod. "Okay." Lee got up and went to the cooler to pick his drink. Gaara let his focus move down to his pizza slice. His mouth was so dry. Maybe he could go to the bathroom and drink water from the faucet? He didn't want to ask the counter for a cup of tap water since he told Lee he wasn't thirsty already. He didn't want Lee to think he lied, or know he lied, rather.

Lee approached the table and put two bottles of apple cider down with a smile.

"I know you said you were not thirsty but who is not thirsty for apple cider? I mean hot apple cider is delicious, but cold apple cider is so refreshing. I hope you do not mind." Lee's smile was so warm, how could someone be as sweet as Lee was? Gaara wasn't sure why he felt so emotional all of a sudden but made sure that none of it showed on his face.

"I don't mind. I appreciate the thought. Thank you." Lee grinned and opened his own bottle and drank.

Gaara stared at his drink for a while before opening it. His heart hammered in his chest. He glanced at Lee, who seemed completely oblivious to his attention, and examined him. Lee was such a beacon of pure good energy. Everything about him was just... _good_. Gaara couldn't think of any other person who would do what Lee did for him today, he wondered if Lee even realized how thankful he was for it all.

* * *

"This may be cliché, but I had a really great time with you today, Gaara. I really hope we can do this again." Lee's smile could calm a raging bull, Gaara decided.

"I did too. Thank you for taking time from your day to spend it with me." Lee seemed confused at the wording.

"Gaara, really. It was a pleasure. Thank you for joining me, I know how busy you are. Today meant a lot to me. Thank you." Gaara's cheeks colored a bit and he looked down at his feet, his shoes made him frown. They were coming apart. He hoped he could get new ones before anyone noticed. "Would you like me to drop you off at home instead of here? I have my dad's car today."

Lee noticed Gaara's face blanch and wonder what he said wrong.

"I-I'm sorry, did I say something?" Gaara shook his head.

"No. You're fine. Here is fine. I need to get back to work. Thank you Lee. I'll see you later." Gaara rushed inside, leaving a very confused and upset Lee staring through the glass, watching him disappear into the kitchen.

* * *

It was 2 in the morning and Gaara still couldn't sleep. Instead, he was thinly slicing apples and very intricately placing them in a pie crust. It took 35 minutes to place them all neatly to look like a giant rose in the crust but he had all the time in the world.

Gaara was deep in thought, just thinking about Lee. That's all that occupied his mind lately. It was the only thing interesting enough in his life to be worth thinking about. Lee.

Lee. Lee. Lee.

Gaara's lips were pressed in a straight line, he increasingly got upset. He couldn't handle his emotions today. Normally he could be completely straight faced and stoic and be fine. Yesterday had been an emotional roller coaster for him. Gaara tried really hard not to think about his father too much, but he'd thought of him several times and it just got worse.

Temari warned him that Rasa would be making an appearance here today. There was absolutely no reason for him to show up. Temari had everything under control, Rasa just didn't want to let go. Or maybe he just wanted to show up to make Gaara miserable. Temari loved her father, so did Kankuro. They loved him to death, but even they were confused why Rasa treated Gaara like the scum on his shoe.

In a way they understood. Not to the degree their father treated him, never that. They understood Rasa didn't love Gaara like he loved them because their mother died during childbirth. That still didn't mean he should take it out on Gaara his whole life.

For the first time ever, Gaara placed his knife down and came to the realization.

He was depressed. He was so depressed it ached, it hurt his body, it made him unable to sleep, it gave him these evil thoughts in his mind telling him to do things he didn't want to. Or did he?

Lee helped though. Gaara knew that if someone is depressed, they shouldn't rely too much on a person for their happiness, if at all. He knew that if someone was depressed they needed to fix it themselves and not have someone else do it. However, with Lee, it was almost like the feelings of inadequacy didn't exist. He was just a normal boy that didn't stay up all night working in a bakery because he couldn't sleep. He wasn't so unloved by his father he was forced to sleep in a storage room in said bakery because his father couldn't stand the sight of him. He wasn't trying so hard to cover up all the bad memories his father created so vividly in his mind.

When Lee was around, it was unimportant. When Lee was around, Gaara didn't remember the abuse he faced all his life. Gaara didn't remember how even though he was isolated in a different building than his entire family, it was still better than being in his father's house where he never felt wanted or safe. When Lee was around, Gaara was a _person_. He wasn't less than one like he felt, he was an actual person that had feelings that mattered.

With his heart thudding painfully in his chest, Gaara realized he missed Lee. He missed Lee so badly it hurt. Why? Why did he feel like this?

Dozens of loud thoughts raced through Gaara's mind so quickly that he couldn't separate them to realize what each individual thought was. Gaara's chest tightened and it was hard to breath. He couldn't focus and with a burst of anger, he grabbed his pie and threw it against the wall. It splattered and apple slices slid over the floor, thick in cinnamon sugar juice, some were still stuck to the wall. Gaara grabbed another pie, and another, and another. He threw all of them. When he was done, he was panting heavily and he fell to his knees with a loud thud. He leaned down, putting his forehead to the floor and slammed his fist down to the floor, trying to release the rest of his anger.

He had a crush on Lee.

* * *

When Lee came in that morning, Gaara was still cleaning up the pies he threw. There was only a bit left, so it didn't look to bad when Lee saw it, he had no idea Gaara had been cleaning for two hours.

"Good morning Gaara! How are you today?" Lee said happily and waved. Gaara paused what he was doing and looked over at Lee.

Gaara could see Lee's teeth sparkle with how much his teeth were showing in his grin. His face was covered by the shadow of his hood, Gaara loved how the hoodie looked on him, and more so, loved when Lee wore green, it was such a nice color on him.

"Gaara? Are you ok?" When Gaara blinked himself back to reality, he rubbed his eyes and nodded.

"Yeah. Sorry. Morning." Lee frowned and Gaara didn't like the look on his face.

"Were you unable to sleep?" Gaara nodded curtly and Lee looked sad.

"I am sorry... Hey, you can sleep over at my house if you would like to!" Gaara felt a chill run though his body.

"What? Why?" Lee laughed.

"Well sometimes people are uncomfortable where they are, like for example, I cannot sleep when I am at Naruto's house. I am pretty sure it is haunted or something so I cannot fall asleep. Maybe you just need a change of scenery. It will be fun! I have sleepovers with Naruto and Sasuke all the time. We can watch a movie, eat some popcorn, I also am very good at making smoothies. I will make you one if you would like!" Gaara was full on trembling now.

"I... I'll think about it." In no way shape or form was Gaara comfortable sleeping at Lee's house. After discovering he had romantic feelings for Lee, he couldn't be alone in a bedroom with him. Gaara wasn't even sure what they would do. He'd never really learned about couples. His father always told him no one would want to be with him and he'd be alone for the rest of his life so he gave up on seeking out any type of companionship. It didn't help that he still closed his eyes during sex scenes on T.V and anything remotely sexual made him incredibly uncomfortable.

All that is to say that Lee even reciprocated the feelings Gaara had. What if he didn't? Where would Gaara stand after that?

"Are you sure it is just being tired?" Lee asked with his voice brimming with concern.

"I have a lot on my mind is all. I'll be ok." Gaara went back to scrubbing the floor and Lee walked into the bathroom to put his things down. Gaara took a long deep breath and held it for a minute before letting it out slowly. His nerves were all frazzled. Where did this crush come from? He just met the guy a few weeks ago.

Maybe he was just so starved for attention he would fall for anyone who gave it to him.

Gaara shook his head. It couldn't be that way. He went back to scrubbing and before he knew it, Lee was on his knees by his side scrubbing the floor too. Gaara gave him a surprised look and Lee just smiled sweetly and didn't say anything and helped Gaara clean the floor. Gaara looked at his hands and put more effort into cleaning trying to ignore the warm feeling he had in his cheeks.

* * *

"Hello! Welcome to _Just Desserts_ -" Lee was cut off by the man's hand in the air doing a simple "stop" movement.

"Yes I know. I'm the owner." He said gruffly and Lee's cheeks pinkened and he bowed his head.

"I apologize, sir. It is great to meet you. I am Rock Lee." Lee introduced and held out his hand politely. Rasa took it and gave it a shake and that's when Temari came out from the kitchen.

"Hey dad. Are you ready to go over numbers?" He nodded and she opened a drawer and pulled out a clipboard and grabbed a plate. "Anything you want?" Rasa gazed over at all of the pastries and Lee couldn't help but notice the slight scowl.

"Do you have anything the demon didn't make?" He asked and Lee's eyes widened a fraction and he felt that in his heart as if it were a personal attack on himself.

"Um..." Temari looked through the pastries without batting an eye and picked up one of the croissants. "Our other baker makes these." She handed him the plate and he grunted and walked to one of the tables.

"Temari...?" Lee gave Temari a look of concern. Temari frowned at him, shook her head and walked to the table. Lee had no idea what that meant so he looked to Kankuro. Kankuro sighed.

"Dad and Gaara don't get along." He responded quietly. Lee's frown deepened and he looked over at Rasa whom was immersed in the discussion with Temari.

"What happened? Was it recent?" Lee couldn't help but ask, he knew it was nosy and he shouldn't ask, especially to someone other than Gaara, but the thought that Gaara didn't have a good home life hurt his heart.

"No. It's always been that way." Kankuro pursed his lips as if in thought. He was trying to weigh the pros and cons of discussing Gaara's personal life with Lee. He knew Gaara would be furious so he probably shouldn't tell him, but he wasn't sure that Gaara would say anything on his own. Before Kankuro could make up his mind, Rasa rose up from his seat and Temari hopped up from hers, seemingly trying to stop him but he marched into the kitchen with a scowl on his face. "Oh not again..." Kankuro rubbed his temples and Temari ran into the kitchen behind Rasa.

"What is going on?" Lee started walking towards the kitchen door and Kankuro grabbed his arm and shook his head.

"I promise you, you don't want to do that." Lee looked at the door, slightly desperately and stopped trying to move towards it. Kankuro looked around and saw that they didn't have any customers so quickly locked the door and put up a temporary closed sign "Back in 15 minutes" which he didn't want to do, but he knew it wasn't going to be good for business if customers heard a fight in the kitchen.

There was a loud clattering noise, Temari shouted "Dad!" and Lee couldn't stop himself from running into the kitchen. When he saw blood on Gaara's face, he couldn't control the gasp that came out.

* * *

Gaara glanced at the remaining things on his list for the day.

· Vanilla Cake batter

· Italian Buttercream

· Pumpkin muffin batter

· Order cake prep

· Process bananas

· S'mores Bars

He sighed at the list. He hated doing special order cakes. He walked over to the order book to look over any other specifications. "Happy Birthday Orochimaru! (in green) snake on cake?" Gaara sighed. He hated the little question marks the front of house put on the order sheets. Did "snake on cake?" mean "can you make a snake and put it on the cake?" or did it mean "maybe he wants a snake on the cake and I don't know?" Just put the damn order down the way the customer wants it. Even so, Gaara rubbed his temples, that meant the cake needed fondant. He was sure he could get away with piping a snake but he wasn't sure if it would stay how he wanted it on the cake. Plus, it was hard to pipe details. Fondant it was.

"What the fuck." Gaara looked up from the order book in confusion and saw his father. Gaara's heart sank at the sight of him. He wondered what Rasa was angry about now. "Have you seen the waste from the pastries you make? Do you know how much money we lost this passed month?" Gaara frowned, they barely had any waste, unless he meant the cake someone ordered and never picked up so had to be thrown away. "This is precisely the reason I didn't want you working here. You can't bake for shit and now we're losing profit because you don't know how to do your damn job."

Gaara accepted his words on the outside but inside he was steaming. If there was one thing Gaara was proud of, it was his skills in the kitchen. He worked hard for them. He's put nothing but blood and sweat into this position for literally no income and his father wants to say they _lost_ money? That was impossible. They're doing nothing but gaining profit for each pastry sold considering they didn't pay anyone to make them. There was the other baker that was there once a week but she only did a few things that Gaara didn't like to do, like croissants. His always came out weird. Everything else was stuff he did for free. Gaara bit his cheek, trying his best to hold his tongue. He didn't notice Temari come in the room and when he looked up at Rasa he noticed how angry he looked. Why was he so angry?

"Don't ignore me, you monster!" He hissed and grabbed Gaara by the collar of his chef jacket and threw him against the shelving that held all of the bowls and cambros and everything collapsed over and fell on him. The stainless steel bowl hit him in such a way that it cut open the top of his head and blood ran down his face. It probably wasn't even a bad cut, but cuts on the head hurt the worst.

"Dad!" He heard Temari rush to his side and push the bowls off him and helped him up. Gaara was breathing heavily, his head was throbbing in pain and when he tried opening his left eye he got blood in it and it started to sting. When he heard a gasp he looked up and saw Lee. His wonderful Lee was there.

Gaara's vision got very tunneled and he saw stars if he opened his eyes for too long. He looked at his father, prepared to say something, anything, and fainted.

"Gaara!" Lee shoved Rasa out of the way to get to Gaara and he picked him up and glared at Rasa. He had so many things he wanted to say and his cheeks puffed up and flushed but all he managed was "I recant my pleasantries!" and stormed out of the kitchen with Gaara in his arms.

"What the fuck, dad?" Temari cried before Rasa could say anything to Lee for rudeness of his boss.

"I want that kid fired."

"No." Temari said sternly. "I want you out of here. I do all of the hard work for this business. You aren't making me fire my best employee because he cares about someone you don't like." Temari scoffed at him and stormed out of the kitchen. "You can clean that up too, dad!" She yelled from the other room.

* * *

Lee had placed Gaara on the couch in the lounge area and was dressing his head wound when Temari came over.

"I do not know what made him hurt Gaara, but I do not like him." Lee said that as if it were the biggest insult he could throw and Temari gave a dry laugh. She supposed that was a big insult coming from the sweetest person she'd ever meet. "I think we should take Gaara to see a doctor. He could have a concussion." Lee sounded like he was talking more to himself than to Temari.

"Lee?" Temari said softly and touched his shoulder and he jerked it away from her. She saw how upset he looked. "Are you crying?"

"Yes!" Lee looked at her, his face red and a few tears running down his face. "I am very upset someone would hurt someone as sweet and kind as Gaara." Lee sniffled and turned back to Gaara and lightly dabbed the blood off his face. Every once in a while she would hear a tiny sniffle but other than that she couldn't tell he was crying if she wasn't looking at his face.

"Let's get him in my car, ok?" Lee nodded and squeezed his eyes closed and bit his lip. "He's going to be fine, ok Lee?" Lee nodded again and Temari could tell he was trying to bite back a sob and she hugged him. Lee hugged her back and hiccupped as he tried to steady his breathing.

"He's such a good person." Lee whimpered and Temari rubbed soothing circles on his back mumbling "I know"s to placate Lee.

If there was any shadow of a doubt that Lee loved her baby brother, it was completely nulled now.


	10. Chapter 10

When Gaara came to, he was in a blinding white room and grimaced.

"Gaara! You're up!" He heard his sister cry and it was like a sharp twist in his ears. His head was pounding, and he closed his eyes tightly.

"Please be quiet..." He grumbled and heard an incessant beeping noise.

"Lee, I think the nurses got the page. You can calm down." Kankuro's voice resonated in Gaara's ears and he felt his heartbeat quicken.

"Sorry..." Lee's voice said meekly and Gaara forced his eyes open a fraction so he could look around. Lee was standing right next to his bed on the left side. Temari was at his right side and Kankuro was seated on a chair at the wall across from the bed.

"Lee?" Lee leaned over the bed to give Gaara a better look at him.

"Yes, Gaara. I am here. What do you need?" Lee was considerate enough to keep his voice quiet.

Before Gaara could make any type of reply, a nurse came in the room to look over Gaara. Lee stood by Kankuro so they could take Gaara's vitals and Temari stood by his side like the doting sister she was. The nurse was just scribbling things down without announcing them so Lee got increasingly more worried that something was wrong. Lee began to bite his thumb and Kankuro watched him from the corner of his eyes. Sure, it was stressful seeing his little brother in the hospital but Lee was just freaking the hell out. Kankuro almost told him to relax but stopped himself. When was the last time Gaara had someone this worried about him?

* * *

Gaara's vitals were okay, not great but they weren't life threatening. The doctor eventually made his rounds and told Gaara they wanted to bring him in for a CT scan before they did anything else. Gaara insisted he was fine but the doctor wanted to make sure. When he finally left, Gaara looked to Temari and sighed.

"You shouldn't have brought me here. This is too much money. I can't afford this." Before Lee could pitch in, Temari stroked Gaara's hair.

"Gaara I brought you here because we were worried about you. Dad will pay the hospital bill, I'll make sure of it. Don't stress about the cost." She insisted and it made Gaara look less at ease than before.

* * *

Three hours passed and Gaara still wasn't brought into a different room for the CT scan. After the first hour he fell asleep. Lee wanted to wake him up, but Temari told him he needed all the rest he could get. Lee sat next to Gaara the entire time, fidgeting.

After the second hour, Temari apologized and told Lee she had to return to the shop since they were understaffed and there was only so much Shikamaru could do. Lee gave her a tentative smile.

"Do you mind if I stay here? I don't think I can concentrate at work right now..." Temari smiled at him and nodded.

"I appreciate you staying with him, Lee. Thank you. Please, keep me updated." With that, Temari and Kankuro left and Lee sat by Gaara's side well into the fourth hour.

A half an hour after that, the nurses finally came in to get Gaara. Lee rubbed his eyes tiredly. He was so emotionally exhausted at this point; he didn't know what to do. When he stood up the nurse kindly, but firmly told him he wasn't allowed in the room with Gaara during the CT scan and it wouldn't take longer than 30 minutes.

They were the longest 30 minutes of Lee's life.

When Gaara got back into the room, he was alert and awake. Lee's heart skipped at the sight of him being transported into the room. He looked miserable but Lee loved the little pout on his face. Did Gaara realize how cute he was?

"Lee? You're still here?" Lee grinned at him and Gaara gave him a small smile in return, which was more than he usually got. "I'm sorry you had to see all that."

"I'm glad I was there to help as much as I could. I'm sorry I couldn't help more." The true earnestness in Lee's voice made Gaara wonder what he did to deserve someone as kind as Lee. "Are you ok?" Lee stood up and walked to the heart monitor. "Your heartbeat is weird." Gaara coughed awkwardly hoping the attention would be alleviated and looked down at his blanket covered legs.

"I'm fine." Lee looked more intensely at Gaara.

"Are you sure? Your face is bright red. Do you have a fever?" Lee looked to the monitor and sighed when it didn't read his temperature. "I'm so worried about you, Gaara." Lee admitted and frowned when the heart monitor continued to read an erratic heart rate. "Your heart-" Lee was cut off by the loud ring of his cellphone and Gaara had never been more thankful.

"Hello? ... Hi dad! Yes... Okay. Thank you so much! ... I will. ... Can you?... That is wonderful. Tell Kakashi I say thank you very much! Yes!... I love you too, dad! Goodbye!" Lee closed the phone and slid it back into his pocket. Gaara loved that sweater. It was such a nice deep green color that somehow made Lee look... brighter. "Are you cold?" Lee asked with the most concerned tone Gaara had ever heard from someone for such a simple question. Before Gaara could answer, Lee was pulling off over his head and handed it to Gaara. "Please put it on. I do not want you to be cold."

Truthfully, Gaara wasn't cold. In fact, he was very warm. That didn't stop him from slowly putting on Lee's dark green pullover sweater. As he slid it over his head, he let himself scent the sweater. Lee had a very earthy, woodsy scent. He smelled like the embodiment of fall. Crisp leaves, burning wood, and fresh apples. It was intoxicating.

"Thank you, Lee." Gaara said quietly and Lee smiled at him happily.

Lee loved seeing Gaara in his sweater. Especially since Lee was bigger than Gaara, the sleeves were much too long and Gaara swam in the sweater. He looked so cozy and Lee thought it was precious.

* * *

The doctor finally made rounds again an hour later and cleared Gaara from the diagnosis of a concussion but told him to be wary since he did have a nasty fall and hurt his head.

Gaara could go home and he didn't know whether or not to be thankful.

What home?

Lee called Temari excitedly with the news and insisted that Gaara stay at his house. Lee said he thought Gaara might feel more comfortable at a house that didn't have Rasa in it. Temari nor Gaara had the heart to tell him that Gaara wasn't even allowed in the same house as Rasa.

Temari happily accepted, this way she wouldn't have to sleep at the shop to make sure Gaara didn't have any complications through the night. The fact that he'd be spending more time with someone she thought was the best person for him to be around. Gaara was probably angry at her right now but he would grow to thank her when they finally got together.

Which was totally going to happen.

* * *

Discharge was painless but took a while and finally Lee was leading him to the garage. Gaara was embarrassed that he had to be wheeled out of the hospital by a nurse but they were insistent that was the policy. Gaara glowered the entire ride down.

Lee held out his arm for Gaara to take when they were at the door and Gaara almost brushed it off but paused for a moment and took his arm.

It _was_ Lee after all.

Now Gaara was snuggled in Lee's oversized sweater, and hanging on his arm as if he were a boyfriend. Gaara's cheeks colored and he stared at the ground and let Lee lead him to wherever they were going. He took the time it took to get to the car to be thankful for the first time in his life. He was so thankful. He wasn't sure what he did to deserve Lee, but he thanked whomever gave Lee to him.

The sky was dark and the air was chilled. Lee was still wearing his uniform. Gaara felt bad that he had Lee's sweater but Lee refused to take it back.

"I have another one in the car, it is fine. Do not worry." He insisted and Gaara's words fell on deaf ears. "Oh, by the way, your sister dropped off some of your clothes at my house if you wanted to go to school. If not, you are more than welcome to stay at my house." Gaara nodded mutely.

* * *

Lee led him into his house and Gaara couldn't stop drinking in everything about the house. Even when he was living in the dessert, he wasn't allowed in the house. He kind of forgot what the layout of a house looked like. This house though, this house was important. This is where Lee grew up and he wanted to know everything about Lee.

"Hello Gaara!" Gaara glanced up and saw a man that literally looked exactly like Lee. Same hair, same eyebrows, same love for green apparently. "My name is Guy and Kakashi is here somewhere... Anyway! I am Lee's dad. Make yourself at home, young man." He outstretched his hand to Gaara and Gaara slowly reached out and shook it awkwardly. Guy frowned slightly and Gaara colored and bowed his head.

"Thank you. For your hospitality." Gaara stood up straighter, but still slouched and Guy noticed the how close Gaara stood by Lee. Gaara seemed... skittish? Poor thing, he had reasons to be skittish. Guy wondered if he was nervous around adult males because of his abusive father. It made Guy want to cry. The poor child!

"Don't thank me, you are always welcome here." Guy sounded emotional, which made Lee emotional and Lee thanked his dad quickly and dragged Gaara up to his bedroom.

Gaara glanced around the room. The walls were a deep forest green color with gold molding. His furniture was an espresso wood color and his room just looked... comforting. The area rug under his feet was plush and soft and a simple light brown, the rest of his floor was a deep hardwood. There was a TV across from the bed on the dresser and next to his closet was a chest filled with... legwarmers?

"Those are weighted." Lee explained with a blush. "I use them when I run and train at the dojo."

"Dojo?" Lee was amazed that this was the first conversation him and Gaara had about his sole purpose of getting a job.

"Oh, yes. I actually applied to the café because I needed a job helping my parents keep their dojo opened. They said I didn't have to, but I love the dojo. So that's where most of my paychecks have been going." That was the most Lee thing Gaara had ever heard. Of course he would work somewhere, not for his own benefit but to help someone else.

"You're a good person, Lee." Lee blushed and looked away shyly. Compliments from Gaara made his stomach feel weightless.

"So are you, Gaara." Lee said fondly. "Are you hungry? We have some food downstairs." Gaara shrugged and Lee smiled. "Let's get changed into our pajamas. I always feel better in comfortable clothes!"

"I don't have any." Gaara said quietly and Lee shrugged and opened one of his drawers.

"I know they'll be big, but here you go!" Lee handed Gaara a pair of black and white flannel pajama bottoms and a dark blue long sleeved shirt that felt super soft but wow did it look big. Lee smiled inwardly at his pajama choice. He picked it because he knew Gaara liked to be warm and he loved to see Gaara in clothes that were obviously too big on him. Lee couldn't explain why, he just did.

Lee picked out another pair of flannel pants, colored red black and white, and a simple white tee shirt and changed in the bathroom so Gaara had privacy. They met in the hallway and Lee's eyes scanned over Gaara's body with a grin. He was right. Gaara did look absolutely adorable in his pajamas.

"Are you ok?" Gaara perked a brow and Lee's face colored but he nodded and motioned for Gaara to follow him.

The kitchen was relatively small but Gaara was used to the one at work so he couldn't really say much. It was a nice, cleaned kitchen, which was all that mattered.

Guy had already been in the kitchen and made them something to eat so Lee made them both a plate and they sat down at the dining room table and ate in a comfortable silence.

Lee wanted to talk more. He wanted to ask questions, he wanted to get to know Gaara. What could he ask? What was safe versus what would upset him? Lee obviously wanted to know more about his terrible relationship with his father, but he felt that the question would be extremely rude to bring up. Gaara was still healing and Lee wanted to do everything in his power to make sure he would be ok.

Gaara was finished eating and he kept glancing up at Lee who just seemed to be zoned out. Gaara tilted his head slightly and narrowed his eyes intently at Lee trying to figure out what he was looking at.

"Are you ok?" Gaara asked slowly and Lee blinked himself back into reality and laughed embarrassedly.

"Yeah! I am fine. Sorry, I do not know where my head is today. How do you feel right now, Gaara?" Gaara shrugged. "Would you like to watch a movie?"

* * *

They went up to Lee's room and Lee picked whatever movie he could find and when he looked over, he saw Gaara sitting on his bed. He couldn't swallow the lump in his throat and felt like he was about to choke. Lee made his way to the bed and got under the covers. The house was colder than it normally was and Lee wondered if that was intentional or not. Gaara shivered and Lee held the blankets up and Gaara blushed but got under the cover.

They both left enough room inbetween them for two more people but the fact that they were alone in bed together just made them nervous. Despite being cold, Gaara was sweating and Lee's heart hammered in his chest.

Gaara wouldn't be able to say what movie they were watching, a single character name or even what the plot was. He was hyperaware of the body next to his and for whatever reason, after a while made him feel safe. Gaara's position of sitting upright was slowly sinking down into the bed. He'd never been in a bed this comfortable. He couldn't remember the last time being in a real bed that wasn't a pullout couch.

Gaara fell asleep before the movie ended.

Lee stared at Gaara sleep next to him. He'd never seen someone sleep so silently. Lee was almost worried he wasn't breathing had his chest not risen and fallen in rhythm.

Lee shut the movie off and laid down, facing Gaara. With a smile he examined every curve of his face. The tiny freckles on his cheeks were beautiful. Gaara was perfect. Lee had no doubts in his mind about that. Lee fell asleep smiling to himself.

* * *

In most books Lee read, characters woke up not remembering what happened the night before. That wasn't the case with Lee. He wasn't surprised to wake up next to Gaara, he expected to. It wasn't something he could just forget. Lee was excited to wake up and see Gaara. He was still sleeping, same exact position and not making any noise.

Lee would've thought that he didn't sleep at all had his alarm not gone off. He didn't know someone could sleep so still and wondered if there was a reason for it.

Lee climbed out of the bed, something he really didn't want to do, and went to take a shower. He wasn't working this morning, Temari made sure. She told Lee to worry about Gaara and not about work which was something Lee could do easily.

The hot water hitting his skin was soothing. His skin was so cold, by the time the hot water reached his legs, the water wasn't hot anymore.

He sat down in the tub and let the hot water spray on his hair and shoulders and roll down his body. He put his chin on his knee and wrapped his arms around his legs. The position was comfortable in the moment and right now, he wanted to be as small as he could.

Watching his toes, Lee thought about Gaara. He thought about his eyes, his hair, his nose, even his ears. He recalled how limited Gaara's words were, like every word was important, he wouldn't waste his words on something that didn't need to be said. Lee loved that. Lee knew he spoke too much sometimes and wondered if Gaara felt as though he were wasting his words on nothing. They say women talk two times as many words as men do, if that were the case, women talked two times as much as Gaara did.

Gaara's voice was something else. It was much deeper than Lee's and something about it was soothing. Lee could honestly listen to Gaara read a phone book.

Gaara's hands were so dexterous and watching them work was beautiful. He could craft anything with those hands. Watching him pipe flowers, roll pie shells, cinnamon rolls. Whatever he did, he did beautifully. Lee even remembered the way he sliced fruits. The hold he had on the knife, he always was in control. Gaara seemed like the type that always had control of the situation. He didn't act as if he was 16 years old, he acted like he was in his mid-twenties.

He wanted to know everything about Gaara. Anything about him. He just wanted... Gaara.

Lee perked up under the stream of hot water as realization hit him like a brick wall.

How had he not known? It was so obvious.

He had a crush on Gaara.


	11. Chapter 11

Gaara woke up to the soft sound of Lee saying his name. At first, Gaara brushed it off as a dream; why else would the receiver of his affections be whispering his name so sweetly? After a while, the volume got louder and Gaara roused from his sleep.

Lee stared at the just woken up face of Gaara. His eyes were squinted by the soft light from the hallway, half of his face was red from laying on it, and half of his hair was messier than usual. Lee's heart skipped and he found it hard to get his breathing pattern on track again. How could someone looked the way Gaara did?

"Good morning, Gaara. Did you want to go to school today?" As if Gaara could get any cuter, he used one of the floppy sleeves covering his hand to rub his eyes. He gave a nod and crawled out of the bed.

With a smile, Lee watched Gaara stand right next to the bed trying to wake himself up. It took all of his self-control not to touch him or kiss him. Lee didn't realize how badly he wanted to kiss Gaara until now.

Gaara decided he was awake enough to get changed and he walked over to his bag on Lee's dresser and pulled out a shirt and pants. Before Lee could leave, Gaara pulled his shirt off and Lee's eyes couldn't be averted.

He hoped it was the lighting in the room being poor, but it looked like Gaara had scars up and down his backside. Lee's eyes widened and he kept his feet firmly rooted to the ground and didn't move. If he did move, he couldn't promise he wouldn't trace the scars with his fingers to see if they were real. If they were real, Lee hoped to god that they weren't from Gaara's father.

Lee quickly left the room before Gaara changed his pants and walked downstairs. Kakashi and Guy were already up, sitting at the kitchen table nursing cups of coffee.

"Good morning Lee! How are you doing today? Is Gaara going to be joining us?" Guy asked and Lee nodded stiffly and walked to the fridge to grab an apple. "Are you ok?" Another nod. "I don't like when you lie to me, Lee."

There was a pause, then a sigh, and Lee shut the fridge door. He looked in the direction of the stairs to see if Gaara was coming down. He heard the soft footsteps in the upstairs hallway and the sound of the bathroom door shutting. He switched his attention to his father.

"Gaara changed his shirt in front of me and I think I saw a bunch of... scars? All up and down his back... I do not know. It was kind of dark in the room... I am just worried I guess." Guy and Kakashi shared a look.

"What kind of scars did you think you saw, Lee?" Kakashi asked and Lee shrugged. "What did they look like to you?"

"I guess... just really long thin scars."

"Did they look new?" Lee shook his head.

"Not that I could see. The room was dark but none of them looked dark enough to be red." There was a silence in the kitchen after that and Lee was brought back to reality when he heard his dad wish Gaara a good morning.

"Where is your sweater? Are you not cold?" Lee asked and Gaara rubbed his arms and nodded.

"I am. I don't think Temari remembered to bring me sweater." He said quietly and Lee rushed passed him to find one of his sweaters in his room. He grabbed the first one in his closet and went downstairs and handed it to Gaara. Gaara tentatively put his hand out and took it, pulling it over his head and pushed the hood down.

"You realize you don't need to go to school today, right?" Guy insisted and Gaara nodded slowly.

"It's fine. I want to go." Guy took that answer and nodded.

"Would you like some coffee?" Gaara nodded.

"Yes. Please." Lee reached into the cupboard to get Gaara a to-go mug and Gaara filled it to the top with coffee.

"No milk or sugar?" Gaara shook his head. "I thought you liked your coffee sweet."

"I like my cold coffee sweet. Hot coffee doesn't really taste like anything to me. Are you ready?" Lee nodded and Guy jumped up.

"I'll drive you two to school." Lee paused.

"Are you sure, dad?" Guy nodded and smiled, although Lee could see it wasn't completely a real smile. "Okay. Thank you. Bye Kakashi." Lee waved, walking towards the exit. "Love you."

"Love you too, kid. Have a good day at school."

* * *

Lee hadn't seen Gaara nearly all day. He saw him briefly walking into a classroom, still wearing his hoodie. He hadn't realized he would be this stressed out after not seeing Gaara for a few hours, but here he was.

"Lee?" Lee turned to face Sakura and smiled.

"Oh, hello Sakura! How are you today?" He asked and she smiled warmly at him.

"You looked distracted, are you okay?" Lee gave a nod that didn't exactly convince Sakura.

"Come on. It's study hall now, so let's just go to the library. There's a sub anyway, he won't even care." Sakura said with a laugh and her and Lee linked arms. He didn't know when the tradition started, but him and Sakura usually linked arms when they walked. She did it with Sasuke sometimes when he was in a good mood, which wasn't too often.

"Okay." Lee let her lead him around the school, just being thankful for the touch of her skin on his. It grounded him. The feeling kept him in the present moment instead of dazing off in his thoughts.

"How has work been going?" She asked and he honestly didn't know how to answer that. It was a loaded question.

"I like the work." He wound up saying but didn't clarify and Sakura frowned up at him. "What?"

"Lee, something is bothering you and I can tell. I'd like you to tell me but I know I can't force you. Just know I'm here for you." She smiled and Lee returned it. He was very thankful to have Sakura on his arm. She was a fantastic friend.

"Hey bushy-brow." Lee looked to his side to see Naruto and Sasuke. Sasuke was still sulking but less than he had been. "Do you know what I saw in English class?" Lee looked at Naruto for a second before realization dawned on him. "Yup."

"What did you see?" Sakura asked, nosily and Sasuke chuckled, Naruto must've told him already.

"Just our old pal Gaara... wearing Lee's team sweater." Lee's face warmed up at that. He grabbed the first sweater he found. It was the sweater that the team got for track. It had the school's logo, and name and the back had his name on it. Lee didn't realize the implications.

"Oh really?" Sakura asked, she looked... confused.

"Yup." Naruto giggled gleefully. "So you wanna tell us what's going on between you two?"

No. Not particularly. Lee frowned, there wasn't a good way to go about this. He couldn't tell the truth to his friends about Gaara's abusive family situation! That was just not something anyone should go around telling people. Plus, Gaara trusted him.

"We hung out and he slept over my house since it was so late and he left his sweater at home so I gave him one of mine." Lee's cheeks were pink. Honestly, his lie wasn't big. He just left out the part of the story where they were in the hospital.

"He slept over your house, huh? What happened then?" Naruto gave an over exaggerated wink and Lee furrowed his brow.

"We slept. Honestly. Do you and Sasuke have sex with me when you sleep over?" The deadpan of the question got Naruto to flounder.

"Lee! That's gross!" Naruto cried and Sasuke chuckled at Naruto's ridiculousness. "I would NEVER sleep with you!" That garnered a lot of unwanted attention. Lee's face turned red, he looked around at the crowd that was staring at them, and thanked every god known to man that Gaara wasn't there for that comment.

"That is really more than okay with me, Naruto. You are not exactly my type." Lee's voice was soft, as if he were letting Naruto down easily. Naruto glared and pointed at him.

"IS IT BECAUSE I'M NOT A REDHEAD?! IS THAT WHY YOU WOULDN'T SLEEP WITH ME?!" Sasuke covered his face in his hands and quickly walked into the library and Sakura punched Naruto upside the head.

"NARUTO! STOP BEING OBNOXIOUS AND EMBARRASSING LEE!" Naruto nursed the sore spot on his head and cried, running into the library after Sasuke. Sakura shook her head and held onto Lee's arm tighter than she had before. "Come on Lee." She led him into the library and the first thing Lee saw was Gaara.

If Lee was red before, he was positively crimson now. Sakura felt him tremble under her arm and looked at him, cupping his cheek in her hand.

"Are you okay, Lee?" She asked gently and Lee felt like he was going to explode if he stayed in the library. He nodded quickly and Sakura dragged him to a table. Gaara and Lee held eye contact for a few seconds until Gaara looked back down at his book and began writing.

Lee was absolutely smitten. He stared with fondness watching Gaara do his homework and for whatever reason thought it was the most precious thing anyone has ever done ever. Sakura frowned when she saw his attention stayed glued on Gaara even after being across the library.

"Lee!" Lee's head snapped in her direction. "What are you doing?"

"I..." Lee didn't have anything to say. What would he say? Sorry, I was staring at Gaara because I think he's cute.

"Whatever, just stop it. We're all here." Sakura said and sat down at the four-person table that Naruto and Sasuke occupied.

"We see your lover is here." Naruto whispered with a grin and Lee groaned.

"If you do not stop making fun of me about Gaara, I will leave this table." Sakura scoffed at that.

"No you won't. Come on Lee. Stop being silly. You've been ignoring us for days. It's our turn to have your attention." Sakura insisted and Lee frowned at that. He wanted to offer the idea of Gaara sitting with them, but with Sakura acting so strangely, he decided against it.

They all did their homework in a comfortable silence (except Naruto, who was playing on his phone) until Sakura finally snapped.

"Lee. Seriously. Stop with the leg." Lee turned to her and noticed he was bouncing his leg and wondered how long he'd been doing that. He gave her an apologetic look and she frowned at him and went back to work. He couldn't concentrate. How could he when Gaara was a few yards behind him? How rude of him was it to walk into the library and allow himself to be rushed away without saying hello? Lee felt extremely bad, especially with everything he discovered that day so quickly pushed himself away from the table and walked to Gaara's table, ignoring the protests from Sakura.

Lee sat down at the table and Gaara's eyes looked up. Lee smiled softly.

"Hello Gaara. I haven't seen you much today." Gaara grimaced at that. "What?"

"I just... I didn't think it mattered, you seemed content with your friends..." Gaara went back to writing and Lee felt terrible.

"You are my friend too. It was very rude of me to not say hello to you when I saw you. My other friends are just upset because I have not been paying attention to them lately... I have been... distracted." Gaara nodded and said nothing else. For whatever reason the silence bothered Lee a great deal.

"Where are your friends?" He asked and Gaara stopped writing and looked up at him with the most honest confused expression Lee had ever seen.

"You're sitting right there."

"No. Your other friends." Gaara slouched down even more.

"I don't have any." He continued writing and now Lee felt even more awful. Did that mean that Lee was Gaara's only friend and Lee was rude enough to not say hello to him? Lee was heartbroken.

"Would you like to sit with me and my friends?" He asked and Gaara shook his head. "Please? Just this once. I would like you to meet them. Officially." Gaara looked up at was met with Lee's begging expression and sighed and nodded slowly. He began packing his things up and Lee jumped up with a smile. He looked over at his friends and Naruto was giving him a thumbs up. Sasuke was just smirking and Sakura wasn't looking, just avidly writing in her notebook.

Lee brought Gaara over, grabbed another chair and put it between him and Sasuke. Gaara sat down slowly and looked at everyone at the table.

"Hey man!" Naruto grinned. "What's up?" Gaara shrugged and sat back in his chair and crossed his arms. He wasn't sure how to interact with people. Naruto looked like he just had a realization and slammed his hand on the table. "That's right! You're Gaara! Man, let me just tell you..." Lee felt a sense of dread and hoped Naruto didn't say anything embarrassing. "You can cook! Or bake, or whatever. One day, Lee brought home some pastries and I swear I gained like 67 pounds that day."

Lee was pleased because he could tell the compliment meant a lot to Gaara. If there was one way to make sure you were placed in good regards with Gaara, it was to compliment his baking skills. Gaara was very proud of them.

"Thank you. That is kind of you to say." Sasuke nodded, wanting to make Gaara feel comfortable for Lee's sake.

"Yeah, I must've eaten one of each muffin and whatever else he brought until I felt sick." Gaara appreciated that comment too, even though Lee knew Gaara complained about the amount of muffins he made on a regular basis.

"I told you he was amazing." Lee said with a grin. Gaara flushed and shuffled in his seat. He was getting embarrassed with all of the compliments. "And the cakes he makes are beautiful." Lee added. "Even if they are covered in jam." Lee got the rare smile from Gaara and he covered his face and shook his head with a small laugh.

"If only there was something that wasn't jam that would've been a better option for covering a cake." Gaara said flatly and Lee grinned widely.

"Certainly. I would think buttercream, but I do not want it too sweet. Everyone knows there is no sugar in jam. It is the better option." Gaara smirked at Lee and Lee's face warmed for the umpteenth time. He wondered if his cheeks would just be completely red around Gaara at all times. "So what are you working on now?"

"Just homework..." Gaara opened his notebook to a section covered in math problems. "You?"

"Oh, me too!" Naruto snorted.

"Yeah ok. You couldn't sit still long enough for that..." He muttered and Lee glared at him. Sasuke chuckled and Naruto smirked at Sasuke.

"Are you almost done?" Lee asked, blatantly ignoring his friends.

"Yeah. It would be faster if there weren't 7 sub questions per question." Gaara mumbled and Lee nodded. What else could he talk about? What was there to talk about?

"Oh! Lee!" Sakura looked up and Lee turned to face her. "I've been meaning to ask, would you like to do something later?" The question came as a shock. Sakura never wanted to hang out with just him after school. It was usually a group thing. Maybe that's what she meant?

"Like, as a group?" He asked after a stunned second.

"No. Just you and me." She smiled sweetly and Lee honestly didn't know what to do. He remembered when he had the biggest crush on her and all he wanted to do was to hang out with her but he was always too nervous to ask after she shot him down when he asked her out.

"Uh, sure. Okay." Lee agreed and she smiled wider.

"Awesome! Can't wait. Meet me after 9th period. I'll see you guys later." She gathered her stuff and left and Naruto and Sasuke exchanged looks at each other and then stared at Lee who still stared in the wake of Sakura.

"What just happened?" Naruto asked and Sasuke shook his head slowly.

"I think Sakura just asked Lee on a date." Lee stiffened at that.

"Wait, what?" Naruto and Sasuke laughed loudly, almost getting kicked out of the library in the process. "What is so funny? I never said it was a date. I just said I would hang out with her. Why would she ask me out anyway? I already asked her out before and she turned me down."

"You asked out Sakura?" Gaara asked quietly and Lee turned to him and suddenly felt really embarrassed.

"Y-yeah but that was two years ago. It wasn't a big deal" Naruto cackled.

"Oh puh-leeze. You're literal wording was 'Please be my girlfriend, I vow to protect you till the day I die'." Naruto laughed and then teared up he was laughing so hard.

"Verbatim." Sasuke smirked and started to chuckle with Naruto.

"Come on guys! I was 14!" Lee whined and tried to stand up for himself without even realizing the stewing thoughts Gaara had in his mind.

Gaara sat stiffly in his seat, he knew he had a crush on Lee but nothing prepared him for the stabbing pain of rejection he felt after witnessing Lee agree to a date with Sakura. And then, finding out the corny phrase he used to ask her out, even. Gaara pursed his lips slightly in thought. He realized that if Lee wanted to ask him out, he would've. Clearly, he was brave enough.

Gaara bit back a sigh. He didn't want Lee to know the overwhelming feeling of disappointment he felt deep in his bones. What could he expect? Gaara knew he didn't deserve Lee. At least he was able to call him a friend. That should be enough.

Why didn't it feel like enough?

The bell rang and Gaara stood up quickly and put his books in his barely functional bookbag and fled from the library, barely even listening to anything Lee said after him. He needed time to think. He needed time to get over his stupid crush. And he needed time to settle the seething feeling of anger he got when he thought about Sakura.

Lee watched as Gaara left the library like a bat out of hell. He turned to face Naruto and Sasuke and they shrugged.

"I do not understand. Why did Sakura ask me out?" Sasuke smirked.

"You're dense. She's mad because you have a crush on someone else and now you'll stop doting on her." Lee frowned.

"That isn't true. Also it isn't nice. I will find out what the reasoning is after school today. There has to be a good explanation." Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"Yeah whatever Lee. Let's go to class." Naruto frowned at the situation as they left the library. He hoped what Sasuke said wasn't true. He didn't want to think that lowly of Sakura but he couldn't help but notice how angry she got when Gaara was mentioned or even around. What else could be the causer of that?

Naruto shook the thoughts out of his head and got lost in the sea of students in the school hallway. His last thoughts on Lee was silently hoping Lee figured out what he wanted enough to actually pursue it instead of pretending feelings didn't exist.


	12. Chapter 12

"Hey! Gaara!" Gaara looked up and furrowed his brow at the sight of Naruto. What was he doing flagging him down? "Wait up!"

"Yes?" Gaara situated his bookbag on his shoulder correctly and turned to Naurto expectantly.

"Hey, Lee wanted me to let you know that Kakashi is going to be picking you both up." Gaara seemed confused.

"Why?" Naruto shrugged. "Why didn't Lee tell me before?"

"Just found out, I guess. He would've come to tell you but Sakura kind of dragged him out of the school." Gaara nodded stiffly and Naruto's eyes narrowed. "You okay?" Gaara had never really talked to people much to know that when most people were asked if they were okay, the normal response was yes even if they weren't. Which led Naruto to a surprising admission.

"Not really. I think I may be jealous." Naruto stared at Gaara for a minute before he realized he was being impolite. Now, had Lee said something like that, Naruto would have laughed and made fun of him. Since it was Gaara, he honestly had no idea how to react.

"Jealous why?" He said slowly and Gaara shifted on his feet and stared at the floor.

"I suppose I'm not a fan of Sakura." Naruto gave a nod.

"Yeah I see why. She's pretty annoying sometimes. Plus, it must suck to have her take away your best bud." Gaara frowned at that and Naruto smiled sheepishly. "Sorry, didn't mean to rub salt in the wound. Anyway, you can talk to Lee about it later. You going to work?" Gaara nodded. "Awesome, I'll tell Kakashi and Lee to meet you there. When will you be done?"

"Around 8." Gaara said with conviction even though he'd never stopped working at that time ever.

"Alright! See you around!"

* * *

Gaara stood in front of the stove and was whisking a mixture that would soon be pudding. He was zoning in and out and just wanted something to keep his hands busy. He supposed he could use this as a shop cake filling. He didn't care at this point.

"Gaara?" Temari walked into the kitchen slowly, as if approaching a harmed animal. "Gaara?"

"Yes, Temari?" Temari quickened her steps and stood by his side.

"What are you doing here? Not that I'm not happy to see you or anything but I assumed you'd take a break from here for a while."

Gaara put down his whisk and put both hands on the sides of the stove, leaning on it, tensing up his shoulders. Temari rubbed his back slowly.

"Lee..." Gaara pursed his lips and she noticed the confusion in his face. She wondered if they finally admitted they liked each other yet. Temari tried not to smile.

"What about Lee?" She asked and Gaara averted his gaze and looked back into the pot. "Gaara, are you ok?"

"He's on a date right now." Temari felt a coldness she didn't know she could feel and pulled Gaara in for a hug without saying anything. Gaara felt a small sense of comfort but didn't feel any better in the end.

"Do you want me to fire him?" Temari half joked and Gaara looked up at her and the corner of his mouth tugged up slightly.

"Then you'll have to come in early mornings." She frowned at that and rubbed her brother's hair.

"I'd do anything for you, Gaara. Even wake up at 4am." That was the most touching thing Gaara ever heard his sister say.

* * *

Later on, after they closed, Gaara sat on the couch waiting for Lee. He sent a text message to his bank to receive his account balance (old school, yes. Flip phone still.) He wondered if Temari was able to sneak in some money to his account so he could buy new shoes. He finally ruined them completely when they got stuck on the floorboard and the bottom of the shoe ripped mostly off.

When he received a text message that said [Acct Bal: 4,802.78], his hands started shaking. Where the hell did that money come from? He quickly called Temari, trying his best to keep the phone to his ear and not drop it like the bundle of nerves he was.

"Hello?"

"Temari, why is there so much money in my account?" He asked quickly and heard Temari move around on the other end.

"Well, dad and I got into a huge fight when you went to the hospital. It ended with me telling him to pay you for all of your work since we've been here. I was able to get you 15 an hour and I know you worked more than 80 hours a week but that's all I was able to get him to pay you. It's the least he can do for not even letting you live at home. I'm sorry it took so long Gaara. And I tried to fight him on paying you for everything back from Suna but this was all I could do. I'm sorry."

"Don't." Gaara said quickly. "Don't apologize... Thank you." He quickly hung up the phone and laid down on the couch and nervously tapped the antenna on his lips.

For some reason the money made him feel even worse.

* * *

Kakashi got there before Lee did which Gaara felt a piercing stab of disappointment. He'd been anxiously waiting for Lee all day, hoping he'd show up. He was unsure why he wanted Lee to ditch Sakura so badly. He knew Lee would never do that but the hope was still there. Now it was 7:46, they'd been closed for nearly an hour and Gaara felt alone watching Kakashi walk up to the door and knock on it.

Gaara let Kakashi in and noticed Kakashi examine the shop.

"Where is Lee?" He asked and Gaara frowned. Didn't Lee tell him?

"Uh, he'd been with Sakura all day." Kakashi paused and turned to Gaara confused.

"Sakura?" Gaara nodded. "He left you alone?"

"I worked. He didn't. He didn't leave me alone. He has more friends than me." Kakashi frowned. Something about the situation with Sakura didn't bode well with him.

"Where's your bag from home?" Kakashi asked, changing the subject and Gaara tilted his head to the side. "Lee told you that you were staying with us tonight, right? You went home to get your stuff?" Gaara's confusion turned into slight embarrassment. Lee didn't say any of this to him.

"Yes. My bag. Let me go get it." Gaara quickly disappeared into the back and opened the door to his room. He grabbed a plastic bag and put the few articles of clothing he had in the bag and sighed when he still had room. He grabbed the charger for his phone and looked at the empty room with a hallow feeling in his heart.

"What the hell is this?" Gaara jerked back and turned his head to see an irritated Kakashi.

"It's my..." The sentence died on Gaara's lips and Kakashi's frown creased his face. "...relax room. For when I don't have time to go home... I just sleep here." Kakashi looked at Gaara and Gaara's eyes couldn't meet his in shame.

"Gaara." Gaara didn't speak. "I have a teenage son. No one can lie to me. Is this your bedroom?" Gaara felt more shame and his face burned and he gave a curt nod. "Why don't you live at home?"

"...What home?" His words cracked and Kakashi stared at Gaara with too many emotions flashing across his face. This man- no. Not a man, this child in front of him looked so ashamed and broken. Standing in the only room he knew was his own and the room was sad. The bed didn't look even slightly comfortable. He didn't have any possessions in the room, there was no window, it was dark. This wasn't a room, it was a storage closet big enough for a futon and some hangers.

Kakashi gave Gaara another look, really looked at him. He saw the clothes that were too big on him, the shoes that weren't even together, Gaara's attire was homely. Kakashi didn't want to look at him anymore. He took a step forward and hugged Gaara tightly, trying his best to portray that someone cared about him. That's all Kakashi needed was for Gaara to understand not everyone was going to not care about him. He was worth something.

"Come on, kid. You're going to stay with us a while." Kakashi said quietly and Gaara nodded and they broke the embrace. Gaara stared at his plastic bag in his hand.

"This is all I have besides my school bag." Kakashi had fostered kids in the past. One of the things that always broke his heart was the first day the kids got to the house, they had all of their stuff packed in a garbage bag. Just seeing someone put their things in a garbage bag upset him, he didn't want them to think that's all they were, just garbage. He now realized there was worse things to see kids with. A plastic bag. Gaara couldn't even fill a garbage bag.

* * *

Kakashi wound up texting Lee to find his own way home since he wanted to be late (in reality Lee was only going to be about 5 minutes late but Kakashi was hyped up on negative emotions and just needed to get out of the shop.

When he brought Gaara home, Guy sat at the dining room table with a smile to greet them, which quickly melted off his face when he saw Kakashi's expression. He went to ask and Kakashi shook his head and led Gaara up the stairs. Guy was curious but knew that Kakashi for whatever reason was upset and would let him know what was going on when he had the chance.

Lee walked in the door a few minutes later which confused Guy even more since he assumed they all traveled together and Lee looked pretty upset too.

"What's going on, Lee?" Lee shrugged his shoulders.

"I think I upset Kakashi." Guy pondered for a second before saying,

"Well that explains his mood." Lee looked damn near devastated. "What happened?"

"We were supposed to meet at the shop at 8 and at 8:01 he told me if I was going to be late I should find my own ride back. I feel terrible. I would have been at the shop by 8:05 at the latest but he was very upset with me. Should I go apologize?" Guy shook his head.

"No, he's busy with Gaara." Lee's demeanor brightened.

"Gaara's here?" Guy nodded.

"Don't go up there just yet. I don't know what they're doing." He insisted and Lee frowned and looked up the stairs longingly. He missed Gaara all day! He was excited to come home to see him, he was nervous that he wasn't going to come but now that he knew Gaara was there he felt like it was unfair that he couldn't go talk to him. What did Kakashi have to say to him anyway?

* * *

Kakashi led Gaara up the stairs and walked down the hallway. Gaara gave a longing glance to Lee's bedroom door, feeling the familiar ache in his chest from missing him. Almost directly across from Lee's bedroom door, Kakashi opened another door and turned on the light.

It was a small, but cozy looking room. The carpet was dark blue, the bedspread was an abstract design with varying shades of blue and white, the headboard was a light brown and so was the matching dresser and bookshelf. Across from the bed, there was an average sized flat screen mounted to the wall, and the nightstand had two remotes, a lamp and a clock.

"This is your room, Gaara. Make yourself comfortable." Gaara heard the words but couldn't exactly believe them.

"What?" He asked quietly and Kakashi led him inside the room. Gaara now noticed the room had a windowsill padded with cushions as a makeshift chair. It could easily fit two people. The window was huge. Kakashi sat down on it and gestured for Gaara to sit on the bed. Gaara looked around awkwardly to find a place to put his bag of clothes. He nervously set them down on the dresser and slowly sat on the bed, as if he was afraid the bed would swallow him.

"I wasn't lying before, Gaara. I want you to stay here. We would love to have you. You can think about it if you want. But for now this is your room until you want to leave it. Tomorrow, after school, I'm going to bring you shopping for some clothes and shoes, ok?" Gaara didn't know what else to say. He just nodded.

Kakashi didn't take the lack of words as Gaara not being grateful. If Kakashi knew Gaara like he thought he did, (or at least kids like Gaara) right now he was really overwhelmed and just couldn't express himself. The best thing he could do right now is leave the room and let Gaara decide what he wanted to do.

"Guy has dinner made downstairs, I know it's late but you're more than welcome to come down and eat with us. Take your time." Kakashi stood up and walked to the door. "And Gaara." He turned to face the small teen. "If you ever need anything, you can talk to any of us. Me, Guy and Lee. I hope you know that." Gaara didn't move but Kakashi left the room anyway, shutting the door softly behind him.

Gaara looked around the room for the umpteenth time and pressed his hands on the bed, feeling the softness of the mattress. Today had been one of the luckiest days of his life, if only it hadn't also been the loneliest too. There was a soft knock at the door. Gaara walked over and opened it.

A part of him wasn't expecting Lee. Almost like he forgot he was in Lee's house. Lee was smiling at him with the kindest expression he'd ever seen. For whatever reason that made Gaara's eyes burn. Lee saw Gaara's eyes start to water and quickly pulled him into a hug and closed the door behind him. Gaara clung to Lee like a lifeline. His whole life got better when Lee came into it. Gaara was hit in the face by the deep smell of Lee. The most calming smell to him, personally. But it was strange, something smelled different about him. It dawned on him and Gaara held Lee tighter, hoping the smell would go away.

How close would you have to be to someone for their smell to linger on their clothes, their skin? When does the smell fade? Is it something as innocent as just sitting next to someone that spreads their scent to the next person? Was it a hug? Was it more? Why did Lee's skin smell so sweet? What if Gaara held Lee closer? Would the smell fade and in its stead turn into Gaara's smell on Lee's skin? None of that mattered now that he was holding Lee. A Lee that didn't smell like Lee.

Gaara knew he was smelling Sakura.


	13. Chapter 13

The next day, Kakashi and Guy picked up Gaara at the front of the school entrance to go shopping. Guy looked around to see Lee, but couldn't see any glimpse of his son anywhere.

"Where did Lee go?" He asked and Gaara sighed as he climbed in the back of the car and put his seatbelt on.

"He's with Sakura right now. He probably forgot." Gaara said quietly and Kakashi and Guy shared a look.

"Does he know we're here?" Guy asked Kakashi and Kakashi frowned.

"Yes. I told him we were going shopping this morning." Guy looked back out the window in search of his son.

"That's strange. It's unlike Lee to be rude." Gaara's lips pressed into a thin line and he stared out of the window that didn't have the school in his view. If Lee was coming, he didn't want to see Sakura.

All damn day, any time Lee came to say hello to him, Sakura would pull him away with some damsel in distress bull and Lee would run to her aid. It wasn't that Lee was purposefully leaving Gaara all day; he just tried to help his friend. For whatever reason though, Sakura did not like Lee talking to Gaara and seemed to make it her mission to separate the two. Now, here they were again.

"Call him." Kakashi demanded and Guy noticed the irritated tone and quickly pulled out his phone. He wasn't sure what had Kakashi so short tempered with Lee lately, but it was something they'd have to discuss.

"Hello dad! What can I do for you?" Guy's eyebrows creased and he looked at Kakashi confused.

"What do you mean? You were supposed to meet us at the front of the school. Where are you? Gaara is here." Kakashi rolled his eyes and leaned back in his chair.

"Sakura..." Gaara grumbled and Kakashi could only agree.

"Oh! I am so sorry! I completely forgot! I will be there in just a moment!" Guy hung up the phone and looked at Kakashi who didn't look amused.

"He forgot." Guy said flatly and Kakashi shook his head. "You said he's with some girl?" Gaara nodded but didn't say anything. He didn't like talking about Sakura.

"Not 'some' girl. Sakura." Kakashi said with a hint of disdain. "You know. Sakura." Realization dawned on Guy.

"Oh! The girl he had a crush on two years ago? They're talking, that's good!" Kakashi scowled.

"I don't like her." That made Gaara smirk, which he hid behind his hand.

"Why?" Kakashi looked at Guy incredulously.

"Why? How about when he asked her out, she said "ew" and Lee was crushed for like a month. Don't you remember that? Who the fuck says "ew" to someone? Say no like a normal fucking person." Guy's eyes widened at Kakashi's clear annoyance.

"I remember that now. There's no use getting worked up about it now. If Lee decides to date her, they date. Nothing we can say to him to prove otherwise." Before Kakashi could respond, the door was swung open and Lee jumped inside.

"Hello! I am very sorry! Today has been very stressful and I forgot we were meeting." Kakashi didn't answer; he just turned the car on and drove.

"What was so stressful, Lee?" Guy asked and Lee groaned.

"It has been a terrible day. In math, I forgot my homework at home on my desk at home. Then I dropped my calculator and broke it, I didn't even know they could break! In gym, a pipe broke over the lockers so my clothes were soaked but we still had to work out for gym and now I smell bad because we could not even shower. In English, we were put into pairs to do a project and I was paired with Sasuke but he was out sick so I was put with a mean guy who always makes fun of me. I fell down the stairs trying to get to my class and had to go to the nurse. A classmate of mine came in sick and he threw up and I cannot see someone throw up without throwing up, so then I threw up too and then I had to help clean the nurses office and every time I had a break, Sakura would ask me to do her a favor and I am just so tired of today." Lee said and Gaara was pretty sure he only took about 3 breaths in his entire soliloquy.

"I'm sorry your day was bad, Lee." Gaara said softly and Lee looked over at Gaara and smiled at him, as if it were his first time seeing Gaara.

"Thank you Gaara. That means a lot."

"Well what were you doing before we called?" Guy asked and Lee scratched his cheek.

"That is the odd thing. Sakura kept coming to me all day with the strangest requests. I thought after we hung out yesterday she would have gotten bored of hanging out with me but she was very talkative. Anyway, she asked if I could help her with her art project. She said she was practicing drawing muscle groups or something. Sasuke was supposed to help her but like I said, he wasn't here today." Kakashi snorted.

"Sakura wanted you to be a naked model?" Lee's cheeks turned bright red.

"No! I mean... not completely I guess? She just needed arms and chest. Which is weird for an art project in school but when I got a call from you I told her I would have to do it another time because I had to go shopping. She did not seem very happy." Lee shrugged, unbothered by it.

"What is going on with you and that girl anyway?" Kakashi asked, trying to mask his obvious distrust.

"Sakura?" Lee's face turned red. "Uh, n-nothing. I honestly have no idea what is her deal lately. She is acting super weird. And really..." Lee flushed again. "Touchy I guess. Like she keeps holding my arm or something. It is very... strange." Guy laughed at the admission.

"Oh Lee! The youthful perils of love! I think someone has an admirer~!" Kakashi elbowed Guy, slightly jerking the car as he did so. "What? I'm just telling it how it is. What do you think, Gaara?" Gaara frowned, being put under the spotlight and suddenly Lee was looking at him too.

"I wouldn't know. No one has ever thrown themselves at me. I can't particularly blame them as I'm not much of a prize." Lee grabbed Gaara's wrist.

"Gaara. Why would you say that? You're the most handsome guy I know." The earnestness of his statement had Gaara's face almost as red as his hair and Kakashi and Guy shared a look in the front seat that neither boys picked up on.

* * *

Once Kakashi pulled into the parking lot, he dragged Guy far enough away that the boys wouldn't be able to hear them.

"Take Lee and bring him somewhere else. I need to talk to Gaara." Kakashi instructed and Guy smirked.

"Does this have anything to do with their little schoolboy crush on each other?" Kakashi frowned and Guy grinned. "You act like I'm completely blind. I always see youthful love."

"I really regret ever being seen with you." Kakashi said flatly and Guy gave him a thumbs up.

"I love when you sweet talk me." He said with a wink and Kakashi rolled his eyes. "Let us go Lee!"

"Go where?" Lee asked and Guy dramatically turned to him.

"You think just because the dojo is closed I'm going to let you get away with not training?!" Lee stood straight up and saluted.

"You are right, dad! What is your plan?" Guy pointed intensely to nowhere in particular.

"We will run around the perimeter of the mall 40 times!" Lee was already stretching and Gaara gave him an odd look.

"You are too easy on me, dad! How about 60?" Guy teared up and hugged his son.

"You know how to make me proud! Now let's go!" They ran off and Gaara and Kakashi stood there for a moment watching them get smaller as they ran away.

"What the hell just happened?" Gaara asked before he knew what he was saying.

"My entire life since meeting Guy has been a string of that exact question." Kakashi said flatly. "Anyway, let's go." Gaara followed Kakashi inside and spared one final look in the direction Lee ran in and was amazed when he didn't see him anymore.

* * *

Finding Gaara shoes was difficult. Actually, finding Gaara anything was difficult. He was completely unused to spending money and having money spent on him that he was uncomfortable picking out anything. Kakashi knew there were several things Gaara obviously liked but for whatever reason something held him back from actually getting them.

Gaara really liked this one pair of boots, they were a dark brown and comfortable. They were reasonably insulated and the tread was great for being outside and on ice. Plus, with winter around the corner coming at any day, Kakashi would think that choosing these pair of boots was a no brainer. Gaara effectively talked himself out of getting them since they were 80 dollars and he "just needed new work shoes". Gaara was only in work shoes now since his other shoes were complete shit. So Kakashi spent 15 minutes lecturing Gaara about shoes and proper shoe wear.

Gaara knew he needed new shoes. He knew he needed new clothes. He also was aware of the account balance in his bank. He'd sent a text to his bank inquiring about it almost obsessively and each time the same number came back. Gaara wasn't used to money. He wasn't used to getting things. In his mind, the money would disappear at the drop of a hat and he'd have nothing. He'd rather not use it in the event that he would need it in the future. In any case, he felt undeserving of new things. His entire life he was handed things that weren't new. This was his first time in a mall that the sole purpose of the trip was to get him something and he didn't like the feeling. He didn't want to tell that to Kakashi though.

Suddenly, in the middle of shopping for a winter jacket after Gaara turned down the third coat that he clearly liked, Kakashi snapped.

"Gaara, you're worth getting new things for. It isn't a waste of money. You need these things. You're worth having nice shoes and a warm coat. You matter as a person. You deserve to have things you need and even things you want. You aren't less than anyone else. What would you do if Lee wouldn't get something because he didn't feel worth it?" Gaara was angry at the hypothetical situation. Lee was worth everything.

Kakashi knelt down, made eye contact with Gaara, and put his hand on Gaara's shoulder.

"Don't be so down on yourself, kid. Sometimes when you don't feel worth it, just think about how other people see you. Don't look at yourself through your eyes right now, look at yourself through Lee's. You know he would want you to be warm. You know he'd want you to be comfortable. And you know he'd want you to love yourself enough to not need to look at yourself through his eyes to treat yourself kindly." Gaara looked at his feet and nodded slowly. "Good. So what coat did you want?"

* * *

When Kakashi managed to get Gaara a jacket, boots, shoes and some clothes, he considered it a win. Gaara voiced his very strong reluctance to have Kakashi pay for anything they had picked out but it fell on deaf ears.

At this point, they sat in the food court of the mall, Kakashi reading his book and drinking a smoothie and Gaara sat across from him eating French fries.

It seemed sudden when Kakashi put down his book and stared directly into Gaara's eyes. Gaara expected the worst but somehow managed to maintain eye contact, even though his first reaction was to stare at the ground.

"So. You like Lee, huh?" Gaara looked at him confused and Kakashi smirked. "You have a crush on my son?" That was forward. Gaara's face warmed and he looked down at his lap. "It's okay, I'm not making fun of you or anything. Just making sure."

"Why?" Gaara asked and Kakashi was relatively surprised that Gaara didn't deny it, or try to at least.

"I just assumed you liked him considering how you act around him. It's nice to see someone show a genuine, unselfish interest in him. He's a great kid." Gaara nodded slowly.

"The best." He agreed quietly and Kakashi smiled and leaned forward, crossing his arms on the table.

"Why don't you tell him?" Gaara shrugged.

"I'm not sure. I guess I figured he doesn't like me that way. He went out of his way to ask out Sakura so I know he isn't too shy. I convinced myself if he liked me enough to want to date me he would ask me. It's stupid... but I just... It's new. Plus, now with Sakura..." Gaara sighed and Kakashi frowned. Yes, Sakura was a headache as of late.

"I'm sure he likes you too, Gaara. He thinks very highly of you." Kakashi smiled and Gaara gave a tentative shy smile and averted his eyes again.

Kakashi realized Gaara didn't have problems maintaining eye contact with Lee or anyone his age. It seemed he was put off by adults. Probably because of his father. Kakashi bit back a sigh. He'd dealt with harder. For someone treated the way Gaara had been, he was surprisingly cooperative. Kakashi would make sure Gaara knew he had enough self-esteem to look at adults in the eyes when they spoke.

"Hey!" Kakashi and Gaara looked up to spot Lee rocking a soaked shirt with Guy behind him.

"You finished quick." Kakashi noted and Lee gave him a thumbs up and smile.

"I must get back into my routine. How was shopping?" Lee asked and noticed Gaara and Kakashi shared a look before mentioning it was fun. Lee couldn't feel a weird pang in his chest. Jealousy, was it? "I am sorry I could not shop with you two. I would love to shop with you if you'd like to some time, Gaara." Lee said softly and Gaara nodded.

"Thank you Lee, although Kakashi and I already went through everything we were supposed to get. I don't care for shopping too much."

"Let's go home then." Kakashi stood up and Guy laughed happily.

"Yes! I'm starving. Gaara can make dinner tonight!" Lee went to argue with his dad but before he could Gaara responded.

"I'd love to." Lee was starting to realize he was becoming closer as a family with Gaara.


	14. Chapter 14

"...What... what are you doing to the shrimp?" Gaara stared down at a bowl that had the shrimp and for whatever reason, also the cup of white wine needed to make the white wine sauce.

"I'm marinating the shrimp in the wine!" Gaara slowly looked up at Guy, then back down at the bowl.

"There is so much wrong with this, I honestly don't even know where to begin." Gaara rubbed his temple feeling a headache come on.

This had become sort of a tradition the past few days. Kakashi or Guy would try to impress Gaara with their "fancy" cooking and fail miserably. Lee begged them to stay with just regular home cooked meals, but they insisted to be fancy. Currently, Guy was failing miserably at Shrimp Scampi. A dish that Gaara said was too easy to screw up. It turns out, he was very wrong.

"What's wrong with that?" Guy asked, upset and Gaara just continued to stare at the bowl.

"I think you broke him, Guy." Kakashi smirked and went back to reading at the kitchen table and Guy pouted.

"Sit down. I'll fix this." Lee laughed at Guy's grumble and watched as Guy joined them at the table.

"So Gaara, what did dad do wrong? I am curious." Lee asked as he leaned forward on his elbows sitting at the table.

"First off, you can't really marinade shrimp in liquids this thin. If it were a sauce that would be one thing. This? You're just soaking it in liquid that will be immediately cooked out of the shrimp once it's cooked. Second- wait. Did you put the garlic in here too?" Gaara asked after straining the shrimp and watching chunks of garlic come out from under the shrimp.

"I thought it would be a good flavor..." Guy mumbled and Gaara ran fingers through his hair and took in a deep breath.

"I see you also added the butter... And melted it. Did you literally add all of the ingredients to a bowl to 'marinade'? Do you know how to make shrimp scampi?" Guy pouted for the umpteenth time and Kakashi laughed even harder. "Please tell me there's more wine. I can't use this wine it's messed up the whole recipe."

Lee jumped up to get Lee the wine since Guy was sulking and Kakashi was too busy laughing at him.

"So Gaara, what are the proper steps to making shrimp scampi?" Lee asked, throwing a teasing look at his dad.

"Step one. Add olive oil to the pan, cook shrimp. Take shrimp out. Step two, cook garlic until you can smell it. Step three, add wine and reduce. Step four, of your cup of butter, add a tablespoon at a time to slowly melt into the mixture without breaking it. Step five, add seasonings. Step six, add the shrimp back, voila, you're done. It is literally so easy to do."

"Wow dad, you couldn't possibly mess up more than you did." Lee laughed and Kakashi wiped a tear from his eye.

"Fine then, Gaara can cook from now on."

"Fine." "Thank you." "Thank god."

"Rude."

* * *

Gaara looked at the computer screen. It was verifying his donation. Two thousand dollars to the donation to keep Kakashi and Guy's dojo opened. He made sure he clicked anonymous.

* * *

"I can't believe the school is actually doing that lame Halloween dance thing." Naruto complained while he folded his homework into an airplane. Naruto, Lee, Sasuke and Gaara all sat on Lee's bed doing homework. Lee and Sasuke were at the head of the bed, Gaara was pressed against the wall at the foot of the bed, and Naruto laid sprawled across the middle.

"I thought that thing was cancelled because some guy threatened to bomb the school." Sasuke said nonchalantly.

"It was just Deidara..." Naruto mumbled like that meant something.

"No, he was heavily reprimanded and we're having the dance anyway." Lee said as he solved his math problem. "Is anyone of you going?"

"I might so I can spike the punch bowl but I dunno." Naruto threw the airplane and it fell down within 4 inches.

"Of course you are, loser." Sasuke rolled his eyes. "If Naruto goes I'll have to go and stop him from getting into trouble. But you Lee, are you going? With Sakura?" Sasuke smirked and Lee blushed and looked harder at his homework. Gaara's grip tightened on his pencil but he said nothing to draw attention to himself.

"W-well I am unsure. I really do not want to go but Sakura has asked me several times. I do not want to dress up..."

"Oh puh-leez. You can dress in your uwagi and be done with it." Naruto swatted his hand.

"Are you kidding? Sakura would throw a fit. 'Lee, you wore that sweaty thing to take me out?!' " Sasuke impersonated with a girlish shrill.

"You guys are not nice to me." Lee said, face still burning. He glanced up to look at Gaara and noticed Gaara was not only not part of their conversation but it looked as though he was avidly trying to avoid being part of their conversation. "Are you going, Gaara?" Gaara looked up, slightly startled to hear his name. Lee repeated. "Are you going to the Halloween dance?"

"Um. No. Probably not." He shook his head and Sasuke looked up.

"Why not? You can yell at Naruto with me. It'll be fun." Naruto glowered.

"Sasuke, how are you going without a date? Haven't like 3,002 girls asked you already?" Sasuke scoffed and crossed his arms but said nothing. "They did! And you said no? Aw, shucks, Sasuke. You really know how to make a guy feel loved." Naruto teased and Sasuke scowled at him.

"What is Sakura making you dress up as then?" Sasuke asked and Lee shrugged. "I'm amazed."

"She will probably show up to my house with a costume, honestly." Lee said simply and turned the attention back to Gaara.

"Why are you not going?" Gaara sighed.

"We are catering the party. Not all of it, just the desserts and such. I won't really have time to get a costume or get ready." Lee frowned.

"That is unfair. I do not want to go if you cannot go." He decided and put his homework to the side and grabbed his phone. "I am going to tell Sakura I am unable to attend."

"No Lee, it's fine, really." Gaara argued half-heartedly.

"We can throw fake blood on your work uniform!" Naruto offered. "Then you can be like a killer chef or something. There! No need to get ready."

"Naruto why the hell would he run his uniform for one party?" Naruto didn't comment.

"SO my idea is perfect without flaw-"

"No." Naruto pouted and ripped another piece of his homework out of his packet and began folding it.

"Suit yourself..."

* * *

The day of the Halloween dance, Gaara didn't see Lee at all. It was a Saturday and the past few days he'd been working such long hours to prep for the party that he hadn't had time to see Lee. It didn't help that Lee requested off on Saturday for... whatever reason.

Gaara made trays and trays of cookies, brownies, pie tarts, and pretty much anything small that could be eaten with fingers.

Temari was in the back with him now helping him package stuff into boxes for the school to pick them up (or Kankuro was delivering. Gaara didn't pay attention. It was right across the street so it didn't really matter.) She kept sending him worrying glances but he didn't pay her any mind. He knew why she kept looking at him. She wanted to ask about Lee, she was just being polite about it.

"Aren't you going to go to the dance?" She asked finally and Gaara shook his head slowly. "Why not? You worked pretty hard for it."

"I don't want to go." Gaara half-lied. He really didn't want to go to the dance but he wanted to see Lee. He didn't want Lee going to the dance with Sakura. It gave him such a burning feeling of hate that he couldn't swallow it. "Why don't we take a coffee break?" Gaara nodded reluctantly. It was 4, the dance started at 7 and they were mostly done packing. He was just getting frustrated.

Temari and Gaara situated themselves at the counter and Gaara slowly sipped his sweet drink and Temari sipped her hot bitter coffee. The door chime went off and both siblings looked up and Gaara stopped himself from scowling.

Sakura.

"Hello! Would you like your usual?" Temari asked and that question just made Gaara even angrier. She was a regular? Gaara grit his teeth and took a step back, letting Temari work on Sakura's drink.

He watched her brew a shot of espresso, pour milk, pour sweetened condensed milk, a shot of vanilla, ice, espresso on top and whipped cream.

That was his drink. Why did Sakura drink his drink? His heart thudded angrily in his chest, he could tell he was flushed and quickly looked at the ground.

"Oh! Can I please get a cinnamon roll? I want to surprise my boyfriend. They're his favorite." She said cutely and Gaara turned around with as much calmness as he could muster and walked to the kitchen slowly. He didn't want Sakura to think she annoyed him. She couldn't know she won. She probably came here on purpose.

Gaara put down his coffee with shaky hands and walked to his makeshift bedroom in the storage closet and laid on the lumpy mattress and stared at the ceiling. His body ached, his heart burned and his eyes stung. He wished he would stop trembling, he couldn't keep himself still. His breathing was heavy and he bit down hard on his thumb.

Lee never told him that he was dating Sakura. He always skated around that subject. Why would he keep it from him? Gaara lived with him, Gaara spent all his free time with Lee. Lee was Gaara's best friend and Lee didn't find himself worthy to tell him he was dating someone. Why Sakura?

Gaara was angry. He was angry thinking about Lee sweetly making Sakura a drink he made for Lee. The thought of her coming in while he was working and him drawing sappy hearts all over the stupid cup, saying something equally as sappy like 'I made this especially for you. It's sweet like you' or some dumb shit like that. Him buying her drinks or not even charging her. Him buying pastries at the end of his shift, after saying bye to Gaara and going and sharing pastries GAARA MADE with HER. Gaara worked himself up so bad he was having a hard time breathing. When did it become so hard to breathe?

Temari opened the door slowly and saw her brother having a panic attack on the futon and rushed to his side.

"Honey, what's wrong? Gaara? Are you ok?" She pulled him into her chest and held him tightly and rubbed his back with circles, trying to calm him down. "I love you Gaara. I love you so much." She said softly as she rocked and he broke and cried.

Temari never saw her brother cry like that.

* * *

Lee didn't visit.

Gaara laid in the dark storage closet and stared at the clock's blurry red numbers. It was almost passed midnight and Lee hadn't come for a visit. He didn't stop there on the way to the party or stop on the way back. He didn't text to see if Gaara needed a ride back to the house. Nothing.

He was with Sakura.

Gaara closed his eyes and fell asleep, his body completely exhausted from feeling.

* * *

When Gaara woke up, it was 9 in the morning on Sunday. He usually woke up earlier than that but he was exhausted.

He sat up and ran his fingers through his very messy hair and looked at his phone. Dead. He pocketed it and took several deep breaths. He didn't want to go out there. What if Lee was there?

When Gaara finally got his nerve, he opened the door and peered out into the kitchen. Temari was there baking things off and Gaara frowned.

"I'm sorry Temari. You should've woken me up." He said quietly and Temari looked up, almost like she'd seen a ghost. She was at Gaara's side in an instant and hugged him.

"Hey Temari, I was wondering if-" Kankuro paused when he saw the tender moment he was interrupting and didn't say anything else, just walked over and joined the hug. He saw Gaara's face. He looked terrible. He didn't know why, but Lee wasn't here so maybe it was him?

"Is Lee here?" Gaara's question was muffled in Temari's shirt.

"No honey, he requested the whole weekend off."

Well... Where was Lee?

"I did get a few calls from Kakashi and Guy though. They were worried about where you were. I told them I stayed with you last night. They said to let them know when you and Lee wouldn't be coming home." Gaara's eyes opened and he felt the ache again.


	15. Chapter 15

Gaara sat on the couch at Just Desserts and stared at a wall. It was already two hours passed their closing time and he just sat and stared. He insisted that Temari go home. It must have been uncomfortable to sleep on this couch last night. He didn't need her worrying more than necessary.

He heard a tap on the door and his heart jumped into his throat. When he turned, he got a strange feeling of déjà vu. He got up, let Kakashi in and closed the door behind him. Gaara didn't bother with pleasantries. Him and Kakashi never were one for those anyway. Kakashi followed him to the couch and Gaara sat back down and stared at the wall again.

"Lee wasn't with you last night, was he?" There was a tone of defeat. Gaara gave a curt nod and Kakashi sighed. "I'm so sorry Gaara." Gaara nodded again and Kakashi sat slightly closer to him. "Boys are stupid. Especially ones with Guy's DNA. Trust me, I'd know." Gaara felt a slight crack in his resolve and looked at Kakashi for a second. "Having a crush on someone sucks, I know. It sucks even more when you're a teenager and the guy you like is dating a girl. It's just confusing. I promise you that Lee cares about you though. Don't take that as putting him before yourself. If you need time away from him, you do that, ok?" Gaara nodded again. "I mean it. Don't put his needs over your own. Lee didn't mean to hurt you, he still did though and your feelings are still valid." Gaara rest his head on Kakashi's shoulder and Kakashi took a deep breath.

"Thanks Kakashi." Gaara said quietly and Kakashi nudged him with his elbow.

"Anytime kid. Now why don't you find the remote for these TV's and we can stare at something entertaining."

* * *

"Where is Kakashi?" Lee asked when he saw Guy sitting at the kitchen table alone. Guy gave him a look that said Lee was in trouble and Lee tentatively walked into the room and sat down. "What?"

"You didn't tell me where you went last night." Guy said with a frown. "I thought I taught you better than that." Lee had the graciousness to look ashamed.

"I know, dad. It was completely my fault. What happened was this, and I am not standing up for my atrocious behavior, I am just telling you what happened. When we all got to the party, Naruto snuck off and Sasuke followed him and it was just Sakura and I. Well, I got really nervous because... you saw how silly my costume was. And Sakura looked very pretty and I do not know how to talk to her half the time. Anyway, I offered to get her something to drink and that is when I fell into Naruto's prank. I was so nervous I had forgotten that Naruto was going to spike the punch bowl and I had so much to drink because I was sweating and the next thing I know I woke up in Sakura's house in the guest room. She said she did not want to bring me home because she was not sure how you and Kakashi would react to me being so drunk. After that I was just throwing up most of the day. I feel terrible. I did not even spend time with Sakura or Naruto or Sasuke. They came over to her house to make fun of me though so I saw them briefly but then I got sick again and they left and called me gross... Anyway, that is what happened and I am sorry, dad." Lee was staring at the table, away from his father's eyes. He didn't want to see the disappointment.

"Where was Gaara?" Was the only question Guy had.

"What?" The question surprised Lee. Honestly, he hadn't even thought of where Gaara had been all that time.

"He didn't come home last night. We assumed you two were together." Lee looked horrified.

"Oh. I-Is he home now?" Lee stood up and Guy shook his head. "W-where is he?"

"Kakashi went to go look for him." Lee's eyes filled with tears.

"I am a terrible friend." He realized and sat back down. Guy didn't respond so Lee could only assume he agreed.

"Just... remember. No relationship is worth your friends. You've been distant from us and him ever since you and Sakura got together. I bet Gaara doesn't even know why." Lee looked down at the floor. "Have you even told him?"

"...No."

"Why not?"

"... I... I do not know." Lee hugged his knees to his chest.

* * *

When Kakashi and Gaara got home two hours later, Lee jumped out of his bed and was standing at the top of the stairs. He saw Gaara's bright red hair and so many feelings washed over him, he didn't know which one to portray.

Lee didn't like seeing Gaara when he was with Sakura. When Lee and Sakura decided to date, it was uncomfortable. Lee felt like he didn't have much of a say in it and he was too polite to speak up. He convinced himself he should be thrilled, this is what he wanted since he first saw her. She was a wonderful girlfriend, very doting. She wasn't mean to him or call him names. She visited him at work a lot, even before they got together. When Lee saw Gaara... That's when Lee felt things. Felt things people in relationships should feel for each other. He got the erratic heartbeat, the sweaty palms, the nervous laugh, getting flustered over nothing and the all around feeling of comfort and warmth. Being with Sakura was nice, but it felt forced. Like a close friends thing as opposed to a relationship. Lee felt like a terrible boyfriend. Every time Sakura would surprise him at home, he wished Gaara was back from work. When Sakura kissed his cheek, he wondered how Gaara's lips would feel there instead. Lee didn't know how long he could stay in the relationship with Sakura but he really didn't want to hurt her feelings. She was a very nice girl.

All thoughts of Sakura dissipated when Gaara placed his hand on the wooden banister and looked up the steps, ready to walk up them. His aquamarine eyes locked with Lee's and they stared at each other for a moment. Lee couldn't place all his emotions but the one thing he knew was looking at Gaara he felt so much for him he wanted to burst.

Lee opened his mouth to say something-anything. He couldn't. Gaara's eyes narrowed at him.

When Lee first met Gaara he thought Gaara had the most doe-eyed face because the dark rings around his eyes and they beautiful color with curve of his cute button nose and those beautiful lips. He looked like a raccoon. The cutest raccoon Lee ever saw. He couldn't imagine an instance where those eyes would look anything other than innocent.

Until right then.

That's when Lee noticed how dangerously spiky Gaara's hair was, untamed and wild. Such a deep red that matched his kanji tattoo that seemed to represent anything but love. Lee saw the slits those big eyes could become and how they appeared darker than Lee'd ever seen. Above Gaara's nose and inbetween his eyes creased when he was angry. Lee never thought he would see that, but there he was. His cute nose was scrunched in a way that said he was displeased and the curl of his lip added to the affect. Gaara didn't look cute. Gaara looked dangerous.

Lee remembered all of the shy smiles Gaara sent his way. He remembered the softness of his eyes when he taught Lee how to roll out pie dough and how he didn't get mad at him for over rolling it or tearing it. Gaara was so patient with him. This was a new look and Lee knew instantly it was him that Gaara was angry at. Gaara found out he was with Sakura. Gaara finally had enough of being ignored. Gaara was angry at Lee for not even seeing him yesterday when Lee told him he didn't want to go to the dance if Gaara wasn't there and then went anyway to appease a girl that just. Wasn't. Gaara.

It felt like this moment took forever whereas it took place over the span of several seconds. Gaara ascended the stairs and gave Lee such a look that Lee didn't stop to ask any question, he let him go. And Gaara did. He walked right to his room, closed the door, and Lee didn't say a single word to him.

* * *

Temari stared at the paper in front of her and couldn't stop blinking. She was confused.

"You're... quitting?" She asked and looked up at Lee from his two week notice. Lee gave an awkward smile.

"Yes. I am sorry. I did not expect to leave so soon, but it appears luck is on our side. I came here to raise money for my father's dojo. While I have not raised the money myself, we were told today that someone anonymously donated four-thousand dollars to the dojo! It is a miracle. I have to go back to the dojo, I am an instructor there. I hope you do not mind, I am sorry for not giving more notice than this." Temari stared at it and pursed her lips. Four thousand dollars, huh? Only one person she knew with ties to the family that just came in with that kind of money.

"No, Lee. This is legally the amount of time you have to give, that's fine with me. My thoughts are, don't even work the two weeks. The dojo is your family business and you should really put all of your effort in that. Don't worry about us, we have enough people and even some resumes. You're fine. Thank you for your hard work and if you ever need a job or a letter of recommendation, I will gladly give you both." Lee smiled at Temari even though that wasn't what he wanted to hear. He wanted two more weeks working with Gaara. "Good luck with your dojo, Lee."

* * *

"Gaara?" Temari walked into the kitchen and watched Gaara put the finishing touches on the rainbow cookies.

"Yes?" He seemed to be deep in thought.

"Lee just quit." Gaara stopped what he was doing and slowly put both arms to rest on his workbench. His lips pursed and he looked at the half done rainbow cookies. "He said he was here to raise money for the dojo but some kind anonymous person donated four-thousand dollars. You wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would you?" Gaara laughed and shook his head. It was a dry, desperate laugh that seemed foreign to Temari's ears.

"Naturally." Gaara bit his lip and shook his head, trying to brush it off and went back to layering the chocolate on top of the cookies.

"...are you okay?" Temari asked slowly and Gaara slammed the bowl of chocolate and the offset spatula onto the workbench.

"Yes I'm fine! Why wouldn't I be? I give literally EVERYTHING I have to him and still-NOTHING." Gaara's shoulders tensed up and he glared at the cookies.

"Honey why don't you go home or something to relax. Ino will be here soon." Gaara almost forgot about their second baker. It's been so long since he's seen her. He was pretty sure they went to school together but he never really saw her. Or he never tried to pay attention.

"I don't care. I'm finishing my list." Gaara insisted and quickly worked with the chocolate before it solidified on top. "These are really fucking ugly." Gaara said with an angry pout and Temari giggled at him. Gaara trimmed the cookies and Temari reached in and grabbed some scraps and he glared at her as she ate them. "Do you mind?"

"I love rainbow cookies. Even the really fucking ugly ones. I hear they're especially good."

"Oh wow! I finally see Gaara! This is new." Gaara looked up and Ino was walking to the bathroom. Temari glanced up at Gaara to gauge his mood. He didn't seem to be bothered.

"Are you going to be okay?" He rolled his eyes at her.

"Are you kidding? I'm working with fucking Ino today. So she's going to take my space up to make croissants. My fucking favorite thing." Temari smirked at him.

"You seem to like cursing lately." She noted and ate more scraps.

"Just in that kind of mood, I guess." He mumbled and got out the pastry cutter and evenly scored lines on the tops of the cookies.

"To be fair we have two work benches." Temari bargained and Gaara ignored her and cut his cookies with precision. "Beautiful."

"Hey Gaara!" Kankuro burst through the doors, startling everyone and almost making Gaara cut off his finger. "I've been thinking, are you going to cook thanksgiving this year?" Gaara looked up with a perked brow.

"Why would I made such an Americanized meal?" Kankuro sat on the workbench parallel to Gaara and Gaara scowled at the contact with Kankuro's butt and a place he worked.

"Because you did last year and it was awesome. Come on, let's do it. We're in America anyway. It's a few weeks away. We can eat here! You can invite your other friends too." Gaara stared at Kankuro blankly.

"You want me to cook an entire thanksgiving meal, then tell me I can invite whom I want like I wouldn't do that anyway?" Kankuro nodded and Gaara rolled his eyes. "Go play with your puppets and leave me alone."

"No! Seriously! We should do it! I'll help! I'll... I'll buy everything!" Gaara looked up again.

"You want thanksgiving that badly?" Kankuro grinned.

"Hell yeah I do. I really want stuffing." Ino walked out from the bathroom.

"Stuffing? That isn't the best part. It's the cranberry sauce." She said simply and everyone stared at her. "What?"

"I'm going to pretend you didn't say that." Gaara mumbled and grabbed a plate to put the cookies on. "No one likes cranberry sauce."

"I do!" Ino argued with a smile. "It's my favorite! Why are we talking about thanksgiving dinner anyway?"

"Oh, Gaara is going to make it." Kankuro said simply and Temari snorted when Gaara stopped what he was doing and looked up at Kankuro with a look to kill.

"When did I say yes?" Kankuro swatted his hand.

"It's fine. You were bound to. Anyway, are you going to make us some croissants for our thanksgiving dinner, Ino?" Kankuro asked and Ino grinned.

"Only if I'm invited!" Gaara groaned loudly.

"I told you that you should've went home before..." Temari mumbled and Gaara glared at her. "Just sayin..."

"Thank you for your help and words of encouragement, Temari." Gaara said flatly. "What ever would I have done without you?"

"Who knows? Maybe if I wasn't here you would've decided to go home on your own and then wouldn't have to deal with this anyway. We'll never know. But now you're stuck making Thanksgiving dinner."


	16. Chapter 16

"Hey Gaara!" Gaara glanced up from his locker and was surprised to see his work collogue, Ino. He tilted his head to the side but said nothing and she rolled her eyes. "What? Can't say hello to you in school?" She laughed and leaned against the lockers next to him.

"You never did before." He pointed out and she shrugged.

"Well now I am." Gaara perked a brow and wondered in the back of his mind if Temari had set this up somehow. "How has your week been so far?"

"Uneventful. I've been preparing for thanksgiving mostly since it's next week. Kankuro brings me to the store a lot to help me get things but I can't remember everything I need. I usually write a list but I haven't had time." Ino nodded in sympathy.

"Ino-pig." A familiar voice scoffed and Ino looked up with an eye roll.

"At least my forehead isn't the prime location for a drive-in movie." Ino spat and Gaara glanced up and noticed it was Sakura who was arguing with Ino. He tried to hide a smirk and quickly moved his attention to his locker. "Sorry about that. Sakura and I don't get along."

"What a coincidence." Gaara mumbled and Ino perked at that.

"You don't like her either?" She asked with interest.

"What would it matter if I didn't?" Ino smirked at him.

"An enemy of my enemy is my friend and all. Looks like we have more in common than I thought." Ino linked her arms with Gaara and he faltered for a moment before taking it in stride. Lee was the only one he let touch him but if he were to wait for Lee to give him any type of physical affection, he would be dead with how often he went without seeing his friend. Especially now since Lee was on the track team and training at the dojo. He got to see Lee when he came home at night and lately they almost never talked.

For the first time in a while, Gaara went to class feeling confident with having a new friend. Not that he was completely sure that's what Ino was, but it was a start.

* * *

"Lee." Lee winced at the tone Sakura had. She was not happy.

"Yes, my blossom?" Lee said sweetly and turned to face her. She grabbed his hand roughly. Her mood was sour.

"Saw that stupid Ino-pig again. She made fun of my forehead again." She mumbled angrily and Lee frowned.

"That is not nice. Your forehead is a perfect size. She is only jealous of your beauty." Lee attempted to placate. It didn't seem to work.

"I doubt that. And your new friend didn't seem to rush to my defense either." Sakura's tone in "friend" had Lee doubt that was used as a compliment.

"What new friend?" He asked and Sakura looked up and saw Ino and Gaara, arm in arm.

"Him." She said with distaste. Lee looked to Sakura and followed her line of gaze and his heart skipped in his chest when his eyes landed on that gorgeous head of unkempt waves of hair. Gaara. Lee felt the familiar ache in his chest he had whenever he looked at Gaara. He missed him so badly but he knew he really hurt his feelings so what was there to say?

Lee said nothing and Sakura observed him just watch them. His eyes were glued to the back of Gaara's head. Lee drank in every movement Gaara made and his felt a very foreign feeling of jealousy grip at his throat making it hard for him to even speak. Why was Ino holding Gaara like that? Why was Gaara holding Ino like that? Sakura noticed the exact moment when Lee's eyes glazed over and hardened. She never saw that look on Lee. What was wrong? Was he that angry at Gaara?

"Lee?" Lee blinked himself out of it and the emotions were gone and replaced with his normal expression.

"Yes?" Almost like he forgot they were in the middle of the conversation. Maybe he did forget.

"Are you okay?" Lee's expression faltered for a second and he quickly smiled and masked it.

"Of course. I will see you later today, alright?" Lee quickly walked away and Sakura didn't even notice they made it to her class. She watched Lee disappear in the sea of students and frowned. She hoped he was okay.

* * *

The end of the day came and Gaara just showered and got dressed after gym. He hated gym with a passion and barely did anything but walk on the track. It seemed that he needed that walk to clear his head. Only problem was he didn't realize how late it was and most of the class was already showered and gone. If he had a bus to catch, he would be screwed. Good thing he only had to walk across the street to work.

"Gaara!" Gaara was getting annoyed with how many times he was being interrupted today. He wanted to be left alone. What was so hard about that?

Gaara glanced over and saw Lee. What was Lee doing in the locker room? Gaara's mouth pressed into a thin line and he didn't say anything. Lee looked... haunted. He went to say something, the closed his mouth. He did that several times and his eyebrows pushed together and he frowned. He looked like he was thinking really hard and suddenly he was in front of Gaara, hugging him so tight Gaara thought he would die of asphyxiation.

"I miss you. I miss you so much. I am so sorry for everything. Please do not be mad at me anymore. I cannot take it. You mean so much to me Gaara. I have been a terrible friend but please, forgive me. I will be better, I promise." Lee hiccupped at the end and Gaara's eyes widened a fraction and he pushed Lee away just enough to look at his face. Lee was crying. Why was he crying?

"Why are you crying?" Gaara asked with so much confusion.

"Because you are special to me and we are not talking. We live together and we do not talk anymore. I love..." Lee bit his lip. "I love being your friend and I miss you. Can we please be friends?"

Gaara stared into Lee's rounded eyes, he could never be angry with those eyes. That's why Gaara avoided him. He wanted to be angry but he couldn't. Kakashi told him that he shouldn't let Lee get away with things if they hurt his feelings, he should respect himself enough to stand up for himself. How could he with Lee so close to him? All he wanted was to stay in those arms all day. He wanted to sleep next to Lee at night, he wanted Lee's sweater back, the one with his last name. The one that Sakura had now. It made him burn with jealousy and Gaara was sure he'd burn alive but he couldn't ignore Lee anymore.

Gaara didn't say anything. He just hugged Lee back. Slowly at first, but Lee immediately clung to him like a starved animal and held him tight. Gaara's hold tightened a bit and Lee and him stood in the locker room in a hug that Gaara wished would never end.

"I love..." Gaara started quietly and pulled away from Lee again. Looking into his eyes made his heart thud and Gaara was shaking before he knew it. "I love being your friend too, Lee." Lee smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes.

* * *

"How was work, Gaara?" Lee asked, leaning against the doorframe. Gaara was sitting at his window in his kitchen garb, hair still in a headband and absolutely everywhere. Lee could've swooned at the sight.

"I've been very busy preparing for thanksgiving, actually." Gaara admitted and sighed. "It's been a pain to do both so Ino has upped her hours for the next two weeks. She's been surprisingly helpful." Gaara pulled off the headband and Lee smiled softly at the wisps of hair sticking haphazardly.

"I see you've been hanging out with her more at school." Lee said simply but Gaara noticed there was something hanging on the end of the sentence. He wasn't sure what.

"Yes, she and I have been a good team at work and I suppose she just wanted another friend. Who knows, maybe she's sucking up to Temari by befriending her lonely brother." Gaara said wryly and Lee frowned and walked in closer.

"Would you like to watch a movie with me? In my room?" Gaara looked up and his body got goosebumps at the innocent question.

"I need to shower." Gaara said simply and Lee grinned.

"Me too." Gaara was just noticing he was in his uwagi. How did he not notice before? He looked... Gaara couldn't even think of an adjective. He did know looking at Lee like that sent his body into overdrive. "We can shower, get into our pajamas and then watch it." Gaara nodded and Lee smiled happily.

* * *

Lee rushed through his shower routine and knocked on Gaara's door even though it was opened. Gaara looked up from the window and saw Lee with a towel wrapped around his hips, his body still glistening with water and his wet hair stuck to his face and neck. Gaara gaped.

"Shower is all yours!" Oh that smile was doing strange things to Gaara's emotions.

Lee went to his room and got dressed at a speed that he wasn't sure he had. When he was done, he looked in a mirror at himself and just stared. He wasn't sure what he was looking for, but he looked at himself. Almost as if he were appraising himself for Gaara. Was he even good enough for him?

Lee's face turned red and he shook his head. He shouldn't think of that. He was with Sakura. Before he could reprimand himself further he heard the sound of squeaking shower knobs and knew just on the other side of his wall, Gaara was standing there naked in the stream of the water. Lee bit his lip harshly and couldn't break his gaze away from the wall. What did Gaara look like completely naked? Why couldn't he stop thinking about it?

Lee averted his attention and looked back at his dresser where he had all of his pajamas. He grabbed his favorite flannel shirt that was twice the size he needed and a pair of pants. He walked over to the towel closet and grabbed a fresh towel and opened the door to the laundry room. It was across the hall from the bathroom. He threw them into the dryer and jogged downstairs and threw popcorn in the microwave and started to warm up milk on the stove. Kakashi and Guy weren't home tonight. Guy was way too excited about the dojo being opened again and the two decided to go through plans for the dojo over dinner. (Well that's what they told Lee anyway.)

One of the things Lee did during Christmas was he made homemade hot chocolate powder for his friends. It was cheap, easy, and he had fun decorating the cans he gifted them in. He still had a large container for himself, he even had a few flavors. He picked French vanilla and added it to the milk and poured it into two mugs and took the popcorn out of the microwave and put it into a bowl and placed them on his bedside. He turned the TV on and picked a random scary movie, as they were Gaara's favorites, and walked back to the dryer. He took the clothes out and folded them nicely and stood outside the bathroom door with his heart hammering in his chest. The shower was still on so he should be able to walk in without problem. He was just worried he'd startle Gaara or Gaara would think him weird.

Lee summoned the courage and quietly opened the door. He looked around the room and saw Gaara's towel and switched it with the one he warmed. He put the shirt next to it and paused for a second. Was... Gaara... Singing?

Lee looked at the shower curtain and tried to pay close attention and yes, Gaara was singing. It was very quiet and he could barely hear it but it was unmistakable. Lee wished he could hear it without the sound of the bathroom fan or the shower water hitting the bath.

Not wanting to get caught, Lee snuck out of the bathroom but stayed close to the door to try and hear the words Gaara was singing. When the shower was turned off, Lee quickly and quietly moved to his room and sat on his bed, vowing he would hear Gaara sing one day without any noise distractions.

* * *

Gaara stepped out of the tub and grabbed for his towel and brought it to his face and rubbed the water off, then paused. Why was the towel so warm? He opened his eyes and looked closer at the towel. It wasn't his normal towel. This one was a dark green color. Gaara bought his own and they were a salmon color. He opened the towel further and wrapped it around his shoulders. It was so warm and nice. Gaara snuggled closer into it and sat on the ledge of the bathtub. He looked by his towel and saw a pair of Lee's pajamas. His favorite pair. Lee looked adorable in them since they were so big. How did Lee know they were his favorite?

Gaara's face warmed when he realized Lee was in the bathroom and went through the trouble of warming his towel for him. Wasn't that something significant others did? Gaara dried off quickly and grabbed the clothes and couldn't help the smile. They were warm too.

* * *

Lee watched Gaara walk into his room and smiled. Gaara was swimming in that shirt. Lee patted the spot next to him on the bed and Gaara climbed up and looked at the side of the bed and saw popcorn and hot chocolate.

"You went all out. I told you I forgave you already." Gaara said with a smirk and Lee surprisingly didn't flush.

"I just wanted to show you I care very much about you." He said honestly and Gaara smiled softly and grabbed his cup and handed Lee the other one and pulled the popcorn bowl between them. "I picked a horror movie for you too."

"You spoil me." Lee smiled.

As the movie went on, they shifted closer to each other. They started out sitting on the blankets on opposite ends of the bed and ended up with their hips pressed against each other, under the blankets. The popcorn was done, the cups on the nightstand and Lee wanted to just get closer.

Gaara leaned his head on Lee's shoulder and Lee waited a second and moved his arm so it was around Gaara and Gaara fell into Lee's chest. He felt Lee's erratic heartbeat on his cheek and he froze, unsure what to do.

Slowly he moved his arm so it was resting on Lee's chest and he felt Lee relax under him and Gaara watched the movie on the screen but said nothing. Gaara soon felt the touch of Lee's fingers on his hand. He looked at Lee's hand, playing with his own and Gaara's hand twitched up to play with his hand back and soon he felt Lee threading their fingers together and let his hand rest there on his stomach with his thumb rubbing soothing circle's on Gaara's hand. Cuddled up with Lee felt like the most perfect feeling in the world. Cuddled up with Gaara set every nerve he had on fire and Lee didn't want to let go.


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter Seventeen:**

Gaara couldn't stop thinking about Lee. He was in math class drawing a blank on his entire worksheet because all he thought about was the softness of Lee's skin on his chest and the roughness of the callouses on his hands. Gaara would rub his neck absentmindedly, feeling the ghost tickle of Lee's hair or breath on his skin. That was only 4 days ago and every night since then, Lee would invite him back into his room to watch a movie and each time they would find themselves a tangled heap on the bed. Last night their legs were entwined, Gaara was laying on Lee's chest with his hand resting over Lee's heart and Lee had his arms wrapped around Gaara's waist. It never seemed close enough.

Both of them would fall asleep before the movie was over. Gaara fell asleep because it was so nice for once having someone holding him so tightly, it was a warmth he never knew. Lee would fall asleep after he felt Gaara slip away and hear the soft snores that seemed like a lullaby each time. Lee would wait until he was sure Gaara was really sound asleep and he would kiss the top of his head, shut the TV off and whisper an "I love you". Each time Lee said it, his skin burned with desire and his heart skipped a beat and also ached at the prospect of never getting the chance to tell him when he was awake.

Lee was distracted too. He was biting his eraser absentmindedly and just thinking about how warm Gaara was. His heart was pounding in his chest at the thought of holding him again.

It was Friday so that might be difficult. Gaara worked late Friday and Sakura usually wanted to do something on weekends. She's been weird lately though. Especially when she saw Gaara. Lee's heart stopped. Did Sakura suspect something with Gaara? Lee took a deep breath. No, how could she? Even if she did, he didn't do anything wrong. Watching a movie wasn't wrong. Plus, him Sasuke and Naruto had sleepovers all of the time and it was fine. Sasuke and Naruto, shit. When was the last time Lee hung out with them? Lee looked around the room and his eyes landed on Sasuke. Naruto wasn't in this class because he's Naruto. It didn't take long for Sasuke to look over at him, feeling Lee's big eyes staring him down. Sasuke perked a brow.

"Movie?" Lee asked and Sasuke's confused expression melted away and he nodded. Lee grinned at him and went back to writing.

* * *

Lee and Sakura walked into the library and Lee's eyes landed on Sasuke and Naruto. They were in the middle of an argument and Lee jogged over, leaving Sakura annoyed for being momentarily abandoned.

"Hey Naruto. Movie night at my house. Are you going to come?" Sakura frowned at that and Naruto agreed.

"Hell yeah, wait is this loser coming?" He kicked Sasuke's leg and Sasuke pushed him out of his chair. "Ow, what the hell?"

"Idiot." Sasuke scowled and crossed his arms. Lee and Sakura shared a look and Lee turned back to his friends.

"Yes. I imagine Gaara will be there too." Naruto smiled at that and Sasuke smirked.

"Why is Gaara going to be there?" Sakura asked, confused.

"Because Lee is his like bestie for life. Have you seen them?" Naruto laughed and Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"Because Gaara lives with him, would you like Lee to kick him out of his own house?" Sakura blushed slightly and shook her head.

"Oh no. That's not what I meant. I didn't know Gaara lived with you. How long has he lived with you?" Sakura asked and Naruto looked at Sakura like she was really stupid.

"How the hell have you dated Lee this entire time and didn't know Gaara lived with him? They've lived together for like a month or whatever." Sakura glared at Naruto.

"The topic never arose. Why is he living with you anyway?" She demanded and Lee sat down at the table and tried his best to hide from her glare. Why was she so angry about it anyway.

"None of your business." Sasuke said flatly. Lee was grateful for the comment that he obviously couldn't say. He wasn't sure if Sasuke was aware of the situation or not but he liked that he knew enough to state that it wasn't anyone's business but Gaara's and his own.

"I wasn't asking you, Sasuke." Sakura said simply and looked back at Lee expectantly.

"Honestly, Sakura, it really is not. It is personal and I do not feel comfortable disclosing my friend's business." Lee said quietly and opened his folder, ignoring the flare of red on Sakura's cheeks she got when she was annoyed. There was nothing she could say that would make Lee tell her about the neglect and abuse Gaara faced at home. Before Sakura could say something sooner, a loud voice was heard and her face darkened.

The whole table looked at the door and Ino was laughing jovially at something Gaara said which was a strange sight for anyone. The thing Lee focused on though was that their arms were locked again. Why did they always walk like that? Lee tried to swallow down his jealousy but found it was harder than he thought. Gaara looked his way and waved at them but didn't sit with them. Him and Ino sat at a table further away and hidden. Lee's heart was hammering and he tried to see where they sat but they were completely out of view.

"I can't believe your friend is friends with that... slag." Sakura huffed and Lee frowned. He didn't like anyone being disrespected, it wasn't his style. But what was Gaara doing with Ino all the time? Were they dating?

Sasuke and Naruto noticed Lee's grip on his pencil tightened and then snapped in two places. They looked at each other with a frown. They wondered how long this could go on for and sighed.

Gaara and Ino sat by the window on the opposite end of the library. They both pulled out cookbooks and were dog-earing the pages they wanted to save for later. Gaara was writing stuff down in his notebook and Ino was writing notes.

"Sakura didn't seem to happy to see us." Ino said after a moment of silence and Gaara nodded.

"Good." Ino grinned at him.

"You really don't like her do you?" Gaara shook his head with minimal movement. "Why?" Gaara paused. He stopped writing, he stopped reading, his body just froze. Ino nodded. "You like Lee." Gaara's face burned instantly and Ino touched his hand and he looked up at her. "It wasn't a question. I know you do."

"What does it matter?" Gaara asked stiffly and Ino smiled slyly.

"You going to let that big foreheaded brat get in the way of you and the guy you like?" She challenged and Gaara nodded slowly and she frowned. "Why?"

"Because he picked her." Gaara said quietly. "He had the time to pick me and didn't. If she makes him happy, then I'm glad for it."

"Ugh, you're a junior. You shouldn't be mature yet. Come on, be petty with me. Let's break them up." She begged and Gaara shook his head and she sighed dramatically. "Fine..." She smirked suddenly. "But honestly I don't think it would take much considering he's coming over here." Gaara stiffened and suddenly Lee was sitting at the table with them. Ino noticed how kind his eyes were. She always thought Lee was... ugly to put it politely. With his dumb haircut and his big eyebrows. She watched Gaara look at him and just examined their interaction.

"Hey Gaara." The way he said Gaara's name was soft and fond. "I'm hosting a movie night tonight with my friends. I was extending the invitation to you and your friends." He looked at Ino with a soft smile and she looked at him confused. Why would he invite her if her and Sakura didn't get along?

"Thank you, Lee. I don't think it's necessary though. Ino and I are busy tonight." The comment was totally innocent, they really were busy, they were going to be prepping pie crusts and filling for the thanksgiving rush. She noticed though that Lee winced. He almost looked hurt. She knew exactly what Lee thought and she couldn't help but smile.

"Oh no, honey." She said sweetly. "We should watch at least one movie with them. They are your friends after all. We can go after."

"That means we'll get done much later though." Gaara said with a hint of confusion.

"If we pull an all nighter we can just sleep in later. It'll be the weekend after all. We don't need to be at work tomorrow at a set time." Gaara thought about it. They hired another baker, part time at his job. This baker was only there from 5am-8am. Their job was to bake all the pre-made things for the day this way Gaara didn't have to waste his time doing it. This allowed him to have more flexibility. He nodded.

"Okay. We'll be there. Thank you, Lee." Lee's expression was uncomfortable and Gaara couldn't understand why but Ino just smiled sweetly at Lee and waved at him goodbye and he walked away. "What was his problem?"

"Oh honey, he likes you." Ino grinned. "He's jealous."

"What would he be jealous of? He doesn't like me." Gaara argued and Ino rolled her eyes. Boys could be so clueless sometimes.

* * *

Ino and Gaara walked into the house a few minutes passed seven. Lee said he wanted the movie to start earlier so Gaara could be done earlier. Gaara thanked him and Ino bit her lip to keep herself from laughing.

They both placed pastry boxes on the counter and Naruto and Sasuke stood up from the kitchen table.

"What did you two bring?" Naruto asked and Gaara opened his box and it was overflowing with pastries. Ino brought some too.

"Thank you very much you two." Lee said happily. Gaara dug into his bag and pulled out a box and handed it to him. "A cinnamon roll. Thank you." Gaara nodded and looked at Ino.

"Come on. We'll be right back." Lee looked at them, they were in work clothes. Chef jacket, checkered pants and a headband. Lee's eyes narrowed watching them go upstairs.

Gaara brought Ino to his room and she looked around and admired it. He opened his dresser and pulled out a pair of his pajamas he bought recently. Ino walked over and dug through the same drawer. He raised his eyebrow and she smiled.

"I don't want to be stuck in these clothes." Gaara nodded and Ino picked out a simple pair of pajama pants and one of Gaara's white t-shirts and got changed. It didn't occur to either of them for one of them to leave the room until they were both dressed and turned to face each other. "Shut up, you're gay I'm not worried." Ino said simply and opened the door. Gaara rolled his eyes and followed her downstairs.

Lee looked up from the couch and saw Ino in Gaara's pajamas. He didn't think a sight could hurt more until he saw Gaara in his own pajamas. He always wore Lee's.

The TV was set up and the coffee table had an array of desserts, soda and popcorn. The couch was a large L couch that everyone could fit on easily. Sasuke sat on the end, leaning on the arm of the couch, Naruto was next to him with a bowl of popcorn, there was an empty cushion and then there was Lee. Gaara didn't know where to sit. He stood awkwardly for a minute until Sakura sat down next to Lee and cuddled into his side. Ino sat in the corner of the couch, a cushion away from Lee and Sakura and she looked at Gaara and he sat in front of her instead of next to Lee which was interesting. She looked at Lee's expression from the corner of his eye. Why did they both look so disappointed?

Ino grabbed the blanket that was behind her and covered herself and Gaara. She watched Lee from the corner of her eye. This was interesting. Why was he so uncomfortable?

Lee was trying so hard not to be upset but it was hard. Gaara had been at his side for 5 nights and now that he wasn't, Lee felt cold. It was a coldness that didn't go away with Sakura by his side, it seemed to make him feel colder. Watching Gaara so effortlessly get under the blanket with Ino was so innocent so why did it set him on edge? He wanted Gaara sitting next to him, instead there was a space.

Lee knew he would hear from Sakura about Ino showing up but she was surprisingly calm right now. Probably because Ino and Gaara were too busy wrapped in themselves they didn't pay her any mind.

Throughout the movie, Lee paid more attention to Gaara and Ino than the movie. And if Sakura's small advances weren't paid mind to, he didn't catch on.

* * *

Lee sat on the couch for a while. The movie was over, Sakura had to leave because it was getting late and he watched Ino and Gaara go upstairs into Gaara's room and come back downstairs in different clothes. He didn't hear either one of them leave the room. It made him... sad.

"Goodbye Gaara. Be careful. You too, Ino." Lee called out and Ino gave him a thumbs up and Gaara waved and they left. Lee stared at the door for a while until he heard a cough. He turned his head and Sasuke and Naruto were staring at him.

"You okay there buddy?" Naruto asked and Lee rubbed his face.

"Yeah. I am fine. I am just tired, is all." Naruto wanted to believe him and Sasuke just groaned.

"Why don't you just get over the fact that you clearly have a hard on for Gaara and move on with your life." Naruto stared at Sasuke amazed with the sheer crassness of his statement. Sasuke was never like that.

"I do not." Lee said with a blush lining his cheek and an indignant expression. "Why are you saying this?"

"Lee it's just annoying, ok?" Sasuke looked like he finally snapped. He even stood up off the couch. "Everyone thinks you're going to get over Sakura and date someone who actually likes you, and here you are, dating Sakura and fucking pining over Gaara and it isn't fair to anyone involved." Naruto for once was speechless and stayed seated.

"You take that back!" Lee yelled and rose from the couch himself. He wasn't entirely sure what statement he wanted Sasuke to recant but he couldn't sit around and do nothing.

"No! I'm sick of this! Naruto and I are your best friends and we've been there for you for years. So please tell me why you barely have time to speak with us now that you're with Sakura. Tell me why you spent all of your time tonight glaring at Ino and making goo-goo eyes at fucking Gaara. Please tell me." Lee's body emanated heat. He was embarrassed and angry. Sasuke had never spoken to him in such a manner.

"If you are going to speak to me so rudely, please leave." Lee said with as much calmness as he could muster. Sasuke scoffed.

"Is the truth hurting you too much? Whatever, Lee. All I'm saying is don't come crying to me when Gaara finally finds someone who cares about him." Sasuke snatched his jacket and instantly he was pressed against a wall by a seething Lee.

"I do care about him!" Sasuke sneered.

"Then why don't you act like it." Sasuke shoved Lee off and stormed out of the house. Lee was breathing heavily and when he calmed himself down enough he saw Naruto still sitting on the couch. Naruto was frowning at him.

"What is it, Naruto?" Lee asked in a defeated tone.

"You're just stupid. I mean, so is Sasuke, he's a dick but you're dumb." Naruto said simply and put on his jacket. "Lee, you gotta know I love ya man, but you're being dumb. Real dumb. This is coming from me. I'll see you later, Sasuke is my ride home." With that Naruto left and Lee sat on the couch wondering when his life got so complicated.

* * *

Gaara got home at about 2 in the morning and he heard the TV on in the living room. Ino had dropped him off and went her own way, promising to see him later that day.

Gaara walked into the living room and Lee was on the couch, his cheeks were bright pink and he was nursing a cup of sake.

"Lee?" Gaara said quietly and Lee clumsily looked up at him. Gaara noted in the back of his mind that Lee was drunk. Lee put his cup down and stood up on shaky legs and walked over to Gaara, stumbling most of the way. "Lee are you ok?"

"Yessireee." Lee slurred and pulled Gaara in for a hug. Gaara noticed how Lee was practically purring on his shoulder.

"You should get to bed..." Gaara insisted and Lee nodded against his shoulder. "Come on." Gaara gently pushed Lee away and shut the TV off and grabbed the sake to dump down the sink. He was holding onto Lee's wrist and gently guided him through the kitchen. He dumped the drink and rinsed the cup well enough that no one could tell what was in it, then led him up the stairs. Lee tripped a few times and giggled but said nothing else.

Gaara got him to the bedroom and closed the door softly. He wasn't sure if Guy and Kakashi were home tonight but if they were, the last thing they should see is Lee drunk. Gaara thanked god that Lee was already in pajamas and brought him to the bed to tuck him in.

"Goodnight, Lee." Gaara said quietly and Lee grabbed his wrist and tugged it.

"Com'mon. I dun like sleepin' alone anymore." Lee gave Gaara a sloppy grin and Gaara frowned at him. "Jus a lil while? Missed you..." Gaara sighed and looked down at the uniform he wore. "Put my jammies on."

Lee's eyes were hazed over and Gaara wasn't sure why. He nodded slowly and walked to the pajama drawer he was accustomed to opening and pulled out a large t-shirt that had Lee's name on it. He took off his chef jacket, pulled the shirt over his head and yanked off his pants, deciding that boxers were fine for now. He climbed into bed next to Lee and Lee pulled him in instantly.

"Sooo good in my clothes." Lee purred again, his hands soothingly rubbing Gaara's back. The feeling was new, it felt intimate. "So cute." Lee leaned in to Gaara's neck and grazed his teeth over the skin on the base of his neck. Gaara shivered under him and Lee licked from his shoulder up to his earlobe in a messy fashion and gave tiny kisses along his neckline.

"W-what are you doing?" Gaara's body felt strange. He wasn't sure what or how he felt. He didn't even know if he liked the feeling or not. It made him feel powerless. Lee would bite or lick him a certain way and his body would twitch involuntarily. Gaara had no control over himself. Lee kissed up Gaara's jaw and kissed softly on the corner of his mouth and Gaara's body burned with a desire he didn't know was there. Lee gave another chaste kiss to the corner of his mouth and Gaara took a sharp inhale of breath and tilted his head slightly. Lee went to kiss the corner of his mouth again, but since Gaara moved, Lee wound up kissing him on the lips.

Gaara didn't realize Lee was holding himself back. He was unaware that Lee even had the strength to do so in his inebriated state. Gaara was very surprised that like a floodgate, the second Lee touched his lips, all these emotions began pouring out of them both. Lee's fingers tangled themselves in Gaara's hair and he pulled Gaara in, aggressively attacking his lips until his lips felt raw from the friction. Lee's kisses weren't graceful, they weren't clean, yet Gaara loved them anyway.

"Lee." Gaara breathed, pulling away from Lee a fraction, only to have Lee pull him back in with a whine. "Lee stop." Gaara pulled away again and Lee paused long enough to look at Gaara. His lips rubbed red, cheeks pink, eyes blown wide, hair a complete mess. Beautiful. Lee gave him one last kiss, a soft kiss. He didn't close his eyes completely. They were half lidded and Gaara and Lee stared at each other as Lee gave him the final kiss.

"Dunwanna stop." Lee admitted softly and hugged Gaara tight. "So perfect." Lee stroked Gaara's hair. "Yer my special person." Lee kissed the top of Gaara's head. "Protect you fer'rver..." Lee's voice trailed off and suddenly he was snoring.

Gaara waited a moment before untangling himself from Lee's body. Gaara pulled the blanket over Lee, left the room and climbed into his own bed. Gaara stared at the ceiling for a while. He wasn't sure what just happened and he felt a burning in his stomach. A mixture of guilt and want. Lee probably wouldn't even remember what happened tonight and Gaara wouldn't remind him. He felt as if it would be too selfish.

Was Lee selfish? Gaara cuddled deeper into his own bed as he contemplated. Probably. Who wasn't selfish sometimes? All Gaara knew was he loved Lee. He loved Lee so much it hurt to think about. He wasn't entirely sure that anything would come from tonight. Especially if Lee didn't even remember it happened.

* * *

Lee noticed that Gaara was acting oddly the next few days. With a resigned sigh, he supposed it was because Gaara was preparing to tell him he was dating Ino. Those two seemed to always be together.

The problem with Lee is that he couldn't take it anymore. Sasuke was ignoring him, Naruto was awkward around both of them and didn't want to take sides. Sakura was being more demanding since movie night and he finally got the lecture for Ino coming over that he knew was inevitable. He tried to reason that it was Gaara's house too and Gaara could bring whomever he wanted over but that didn't bode well either. Then it turned into him always talking about Gaara which didn't make sense because she was the one that brought him up to begin with. Women were exhausting.

"Hey Gaara." Lee's voice surprised even himself. Gaara pulled the earbud from his ear and looked up at Lee with those wide, curious eyes. Lee dreamt about those eyes. Mostly those eyes blown wide with lust. Just the thought of that dream made Lee shiver.

"Yes, Lee?" Gaara was sitting on his bed, cross-legged with a book in his lap doing homework and listening to music. Lee gave Gaara his tablet so Gaara could go online which was oddly something Gaara never had a lot of access to before. Lee made a mental note that he should give Gaara a music player since Gaara was just using YouTube to listen to music. There were better apps than that but Gaara was a slow learner with technology.

"Today is my fight with Sasuke at the dojo. We planned to do this a few weeks ago to get some interest back in the dojo. I was wondering if you would like to go... You could bring Ino if you would like." Lee said with a soft smile. A smile that seemed off.

"Yeah I'll be there. Kakashi already invited me." Lee blushed slightly. Obviously he was invited already.

"Oh. Right. Well cool. I'll see you then..." Lee gave an awkward nod and turned to leave the room.

"Lee." Lee stopped himself at an embarrassingly fast pace and turned to look at Gaara again. "I have to talk to you." Lee wanted to squirm where he stood. Is this where Gaara told him about dating Ino? Lee wanted to run away. There was nothing preparing him for that.

"Okay." He choked out and Gaara motioned to the end of the bed and Lee sat down and looked at Gaara. Gaara bit the inside of his lip and shifted on the bed.

"I want to start by saying I didn't even know this was a thing but I guess it is and I don't know who else to talk to and you're my best friend so..." Lee watched Gaara with interest. "I was having difficulty my entire life with emotions and feelings since... I wasn't... allowed to have them. No one explained them to me. I never had a computer or a phone to look things up. And there's also the whole I didn't know they existed until a few days ago... I did research and I thought I could label myself but it's hard. I thought I was asexual when I read what it meant because it was everything I felt. Something happened and I realize that isn't it and I just wanted to tell someone since... it's the first time I've had an inkling of what I felt and it was validated." Gaara paused for a while. It was strange, he wasn't used to labels they were new, but he knew there was a stigma around them and he didn't want Lee to look at him differently.

"What do you think your label is, Gaara?" Lee coaxed gently and Gaara pursed his lips.

"I read a lot about... demisexual and it makes sense..." Since there were so many labels, Lee had to run through his memory to remember which one demisexual was.

"That's the one where... you're only sexually attracted to someone you love?" Lee asked unsurely and Gaara nodded. Lee smiled. "That is lovely, Gaara." A thought dawned on Lee that had his stomach lurch. "How... did you learn that? Were you... intimate with someone... you love?" Lee asked awkwardly and blushed. "Y-you don't have to answer that. I understand it's personal." Gaara looked down at his lap. If he said yes, maybe Lee would understand that he loved him. It was going to be difficult to admit, but he wanted Lee to see him so bad.

"Yes." Gaara admitted to the quiet room. Lee sat still, his body was thrumming and his heart broke. The thought of someone touching Gaara made him sick. Lee was so angry, so incredibly jealous he wanted to vomit. He tried to look up at Gaara but it was hard. He just kept thinking of someone's hands all over his body. Of Ino's hands on his body. He needed air, he was lightheaded.

"Uh, that is... great. I am happy for you. I-I... Excuse me." Lee knew it wasn't very smooth but he stumbled off of the bed and fleed the room quickly. His eyes burned when he was in the safety of his own room. He closed the door and leaned his body on the door and slid down to the ground and hugged his knees. He knew he was being selfish. He had Sakura and Gaara had no one. He should be happy for his friend! Lee wanted so badly to be happy for Gaara but it was so incredibly hard! He wouldn't be able to look at Ino now without thinking of the two of them. Gaara was his! His special person!

Lee's throat felt tight and he hiccupped. Suddenly tears were pouring from his eyes and he couldn't stop himself from crying. It hurt so badly. All he could think about was how much he loved Gaara. How perfect he was in every way. Lee pulled out his phone and turned it on and went to his gallery where he had his pictures of him and Gaara. It was silly to be so upset over this, especially to treat this like a break up.

Even so, Lee looked at the pictures of them apple picking, he looked at the pictures of Gaara making pastries in the kitchen. He had pictures of Gaara sleeping on the couch and pictures with Gaara and Kakashi cooking at the stove. There were some of Gaara lounging on their deck by the fire pit roasting marshmallows, Gaara climbing trees, selfies of Lee and Gaara in random places. Lee had a picture of them at the grocery store, Lee was grinning next to the tank of fish and Gaara was staring blankly at the camera. There were car selfies with Gaara sitting cross-legged on the passenger seat drinking a milkshake. Gaara petting random stray animals and Lee looking amazed that these animals letting Gaara pet them (a deer, a squirrel, a groundhog, an opossum.)

When had they drifted so far apart? When did Lee let Sakura take control over his time? Why had he let Sakura take over his time? She wasn't worth it. She didn't make Lee feel like how Gaara did. It was wrong to even continue the relationship! Lee rubbed his face trying to wipe away the tears but more just kept coming out. Lee's phone vibrated in his hand and he saw Sakura's picture flash on the screen. It was a picture he took of her at the autumn festival that he honestly wanted to take Gaara to. The entire time he just kept thinking it would've been better if he brought Gaara.

Lee stared at the picture with a disdain he didn't know he felt until the call stopped and the picture of Gaara in the apple tree popped up on the screen. Lee's lips pressed firmly together and he stared at the beautiful eyes and laid on the floor just regretting the choices he's made.

* * *

Gaara stared at Lee flee the room and his heart clenched. He really hoped Lee didn't remember that they were... somewhat intimate the other night and that's why he left and not because he did remember but he didn't feel the same way for Gaara.

Gaara sighed deeply and felt his phone vibrate. He took it out of his pocket and admired the screen. It was an old Samsung phone Kakashi had from when he upgraded his phone. This one was two years old, which apparently to some teenagers was a big deal. Gaara loved it. Kakashi gave it to him last week and added him to their phone plan. He apologized for the shitty-ness and offered to let Gaara get a better phone but Gaara insisted he kept that one.

When he switched phones he transferred all of his pictures over so now he had a lot of pictures of pastries and Lee. He had so many pictures of Lee. Gaara's phone's background was actually a picture of Lee. The first picture he took of him in the tree. His old phone's camera quality wasn't anything special but even so, it was his favorite picture. The only one to see his phone background was Ino. She asked if she could look something up on his phone and he didn't mind. He told her the drawn pattern on the unlock screen was just a U and when she unlocked the phone she looked up at him with an expression between humor and "really?" Gaara's ears turned pink, he went back to cutting the cookies and she laughed at him.

"I didn't think you had a crush THAT big." She teased and leaned on the table next to him and Gaara glared at her and she hit him with her hip. "It's cute. Nice picture. Almost makes him look attractive."

"He is attractive." Gaara insisted quietly and Ino grinned at him.

"You're so sweet when you're in ~love~!" She said in a sing-song voice. Gaara wasn't amused.

Gaara stared at his background until his timer ran out and the screen shut off. He didn't know what to do. Did he tell Ino? What would she think? Would she be angry that Lee would cheat on Sakura as he had? Would she laugh with glee that Sakura's boyfriend didn't even seem to like her enough? Gaara wasn't sure. He didn't want to air out their business but he wished he could talk to someone.

Suddenly Gaara's phone vibrated and a picture of Ino covered the screen. It was a picture of her at work, a selfie. She was sticking out her tongue and winking, holding the phone up high enough to see Gaara working in the background, glaring at her taking the picture. When did she put that as her contact photo?

"Hello?" Gaara answered much quieter than usual.

"...Lee?" Gaara made a grunt of agreement. "I'll be there in 10 minutes. Be outside!" She hung up and he sighed. She wouldn't take no for an answer even if she gave him time to say no.

Gaara got dressed. He put on a pair of Lee's sweatpants he had from the other night with their school's logo on them. Freytown Foxes. Their colors were navy blue with orange lettering and their mascot was a fox which Naruto actually dressed as the mascot for pep-rallies and games. (He said it was super fun but really hot. Plus he got to dance with cheerleaders. Sasuke rolled his eyes.) Gaara grabbed one of his only sweaters, his dark red one. He looked at himself in the mirror and noticed absolutely nothing about his outfit matched. He grabbed his green hat and tan boots and walked downstairs.

"Where ya goin?" Kakashi asked and Gaara looked back at him. Kakashi could tell something was wrong. "Going out with Ino?" Gaara nodded slowly and Kakashi nodded at him. "Be safe. Text me if you won't be home." Gaara nodded and left the house. Kakashi looked up and saw Lee at the top of the stairs.


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter Eighteen:**

"So what's going on?" Gaara sighed deeply. Him and Ino had been driving around for 10 minutes in complete silence while she let Gaara mull over whatever he wanted to talk about. Gaara still felt unprepared.

"A lot. I'm... unsure how to talk about it." Gaara leaned his cheek against the seatbelt and watched the trees as they drove passed.

"And it has to do with Lee?" Gaara made a noise of agreement. "Okay, did something happen between you two? I didn't want to say anything but he's been totally giving you baby doll eyes. He seems absolutely smitten." Gaara frowned and bit his lip. "Oh so this is going to be good? Come on, you can tell me. I don't have a big mouth... Unless it's to insult Sakura."

"It's just... It isn't only my business, it's also Lee's and I'm not sure if I should say anything." Gaara admitted and Ino didn't say anything but pulled the car into the mall parking lot. She turned to Gaara and sighed.

"Gaara, if it's bothering you, you should talk to someone. Not telling someone something is bothering you because you're unsure of the other party's response isn't the way to go about things. You can talk about it if you need to. If you don't, that's okay too. If you want to talk about it, I'm here. You know I love gossip." She grinned at him and he started to fidget.

"I do... I do want to tell someone." Gaara decided softly. "Okay... It started the other day. Lee invited me to watch a movie with him and he was very... sweet. He made poporn, hot chocolate, he even put a towel and pajamas in the dryer for me for when I got out of the shower..." Ino grinned at him.

"I told you he liked you..." She said with a smug smile. Gaara ignored her.

"After, we started watching the movie and... we kind of... cuddled? He was holding me and I was laying on him and it was just nice. And then we did that all week until Friday." Ino held back most of her inappropriate comments for the time being.

"That explains the looks you two had when we were watching a movie. You wanted to curl up by him and he wanted to curl up next to you." Gaara nodded. "Oh honey, you two are so in love. You're going to get married and have babies." She teased and Gaara flushed. "Did something else happen?"

"Yeah... You dropped me off and I got home that night and Lee was drunk so I took him to his room and he insisted I cuddle with him because he wanted me next to him. So I laid down with him and he started... like massaging me? He was rubbing my back and my arms and then he started kissing my neck and biting my shoulder..." Ino's cheeks were pink but the grin on her face told a different story. "Then... we kissed. He kept saying I was his special person and how cute I was and how he'd protect me, I told him to stop and he kissed me and then he fell asleep."

"Holy plot twist, batman. I mean I knew he liked you but I didn't expect him to do that. Damn, get some." Gaara glared at her and she laughed. "In all seriousness, he shouldn't be doing that with a girlfriend... He should dump Sakura right now so you two can get married."

"Problem is, he doesn't remember. At least I don't think he remembers. He isn't acting like he does. I just don't know how to deal with it. And I feel really terrible, I don't like Sakura but I still took advantage of her boyfriend." Ino raised an eyebrow.

"What do you mean you took advantage? He kissed you."

"Yeah but he was drunk and didn't know what he was doing."

"Yes he did. Gaara, you know Lee. You know he wouldn't do anything he didn't want to do. Just because he was drunk doesn't mean it isn't what he wanted. He wants you, he's just too chicken shit to tell you. I don't buy the 'I was drunk' as an excuse to cheat. If you want to cheat, you'll cheat. But good on you for stopping yourself. Since he was drunk he legally couldn't consent even if he totally wants you." Gaara thought about it for a moment and Ino wasn't happy with the atmosphere in the car. Gaara was feeling bad and she didn't want him to. "Anyway, I don't know what the hell kind of outfit you're pulling but it doesn't work. Come on, let's buy you something. We are going to his spar match, right?" Gaara nodded. "Good, you need to look cute as hell." Ino jumped out of the car and Gaara reluctantly followed behind her.

* * *

Lee went outside after Gaara left to do warm ups for his match later on. Kakashi eventually found his way outside to see Lee for what seemed like the first time in a month.

"What's bothering you, Lee?" Kakashi asked and Lee paused his warm up and collapsed onto the grass, looking up at the sky.

"So many things." He admitted and Kakashi sat by Lee's side.

"Care to elaborate?" Kakashi asked and Lee doesn't know why he said the truth, he supposed he needed to tell someone. Everything hurt.

"I think Gaara is dating Ino." Lee said softly and Kakashi raised an eyebrow.

"Why do you think that?"

"They are always together. At school they walk arm in arm. Ino works at the café more with him. They are always together when they are not working or at school. I think they are dating." Kakashi noticed the slight hysteria in Lee's voice.

"What does that mean for you?" Kakashi asked and Lee sat up and looked at Kakashi. Kakashi could tell Lee was crying before. His face was still swollen. His eyes were glassy and Kakashi knew it was only a matter of time before he started crying again. Lee was very emotional. Usually Guy dealt with this but he was at the dojo.

"That my best friend is spending all of his time with a girl who does not deserve him. He is so amazing and I know I do not know her well enough and it is out of place for me to say, but Gaara deserves the world. Everything in the world. And she is not good enough for him. He is so great and someone should show him how amazing he is and I do not think she can do that and I am upset because if anyone needs to know how loved they are it is Gaara. I just want him to be happy and what if she does not do that? What if she cannot make him happy? I do not want to see that. I need him to be happy. But then I think about it and I do not want him to be happy without me. I see them all of the time and they look like they are having a good time and I miss spending time with him. I am jealous. I miss Gaara. It is my own fault that we are how we are and I am angry at myself for everything and I just do not know what to do." Lee was full on sobbing by the end and Kakashi looked at him with a pained expression.

"Lee..." He said surprisingly gently. "Gaara isn't dating Ino. Nor will he be dating Ino." Lee looked up and sniffled and rubbed his face on his sleeve.

"W-what do you mean?" Kakashi sighed. He couldn't say much, he couldn't tell Lee that Gaara liked, maybe even loved him. That wasn't his business to discuss. Those two boys needed to sit down and sort out their priorities. Seriously.

"I've talked to Gaara. I know for a fact that he isn't interested in Ino that way. If he loves her, it's as a friend. Maybe even like a sister. But he isn't interested in her romantically. You need to have a talk with him if this is everything you're feeling. I'm sure he can clarify more than I can. But Lee I do have a question." Lee nodded and sniffled again. "Do you have romantic feelings for Gaara?" Lee's face burned in an instant. His ears, cheeks, forehead, nose, neck, all red. Lee's heart thrummed in his chest and he couldn't control the random trembles of his hands.

"You don't have to answer. It's just a question you should think about. There's a reason that you feel jealous of Ino. There's a reason you want Gaara to have the world. You just need to admit it." Lee nodded.

"I do. He is my special person." Lee rubbed his eyes again. They were burning. His heart hurt from beating too hard.

"Then Lee, why are you with Sakura?" Kakashi asked and Lee grew frustrated. His eyebrows pushed together and his lips pressed into a line.

"I..." The look of concentration was harder. "I liked Sakura for a while. I realize I do not have the strong feelings for her anymore. Still, I liked her so much before I thought maybe this could work out. And I do not think I could hurt her. She may not be Gaara, but I do love her. She is not a bad person. She is lovely. It is just... She is not him."

"I know breaking up with someone is tough, Lee. But I think you need to if this is how you're feeling. Don't let me dictate what you do. Think about things. I'll be here for you. Come on now, it's time to get ready to go to the dojo." Kakashi helped Lee up and Lee rubbed his face again.

"Do you think Gaara will come watch me fight?" He asked and Kakashi smiled.

"I don't think there's anything more he'd rather do."

* * *

"Come on Ino, you drive so slow." Gaara complained and Ino glared at him.

"I'm doing 5 over the speed limit. Calm down. We'll make it to your boyfriend's match. We still have 10 minutes until it starts." Gaara sighed and looked out of the window. "On the plus side, you look super cute."

"Don't call me cute. It isn't something guys like to hear." Gaara grumbled and Ino smiled.

"But you are cute. I'm sure Lee will agree with me too!" Gaara rolled his eyes, regretting telling her anything about Lee.

"I shouldn't have let you drag me around playing dress up. If we're late I will be so mad at you." Ino rolled her eyes.

"Yeah whatever. Just text Kakashi or Guy and tell them you're running late. I don't even think you'd have to do that. I'm sure Lee would wait for you. You're his special person after all." Gaara glared at her again.

"I hate you." Ino blew him a kiss.

* * *

Lee was standing by the back wall of the dojo looking around awkwardly. Luckily, their fight had drawn a decent sized crowd. Hopefully, they would get more students this way. He honestly had Sasuke to thank for that. Sasuke was pretty popular no matter where he was. He's the reason the turnout was so good.

Looking at the clock, Lee saw that it was a few minutes passed the start time. Sasuke was stretching on the left side of the room by the bleachers. Naruto was sitting next to where he was and babbling it seemed. Sakura walked into the room and smiled happily at him and waved. She walked over and embraced him in a hug.

"Oh good luck, Lee! I know you can do it." Lee smiled softly at her and hugged her again. She was such a good person. He loved being around her. The thought of him breaking up with her soon made him sad. She wouldn't want to be around him anymore. He just had to get time with her while he could.

Ten minutes passed the start time and the crowd was getting antsy. There were only so many stretches Lee and Sasuke could go through. Sasuke saw Lee look at the door a bunch and sighed. He knew he was stalling for Gaara.

"He'll be here." Sasuke said quietly when he was close enough to Lee. Lee looked up surprised and blushed slightly.

"I know... Thanks Sasuke. I really must apologize for the other day. I feel terrible." Sasuke stopped him.

"No. Not now. After I kick your ass." Sasuke smirked and Lee smiled warmly at him.

They both realized that Guy was talking to the audience about classes and times and such. Lee inwardly grinned at the effort Guy put into stalling and the doors opened and Lee's eyes shot over. He saw Ino walk in, almost gliding. She was very pretty, he had to give her that. But she was nothing compared to Gaara.

Lee's eyes widened a fraction looking at Gaara. Black jeans, a green button up rolled to his elbows, his green beanie, a nice pair of tan boots. His hair even looked different. It looked shorter. He tugged off the hat and Lee noticed it was straight. It wasn't sticking up everywhere. Lee didn't know if that should upset him or not.

"Think you can pay attention to the fight?" Sasuke asked with a smirk and Lee quickly jerked his gaze away from Gaara and narrowed his eyes at Sasuke with a smirk.

"Of course. I'm going to beat you too."

* * *

"He was totally checking you out." Ino whispered to Gaara with a giggle.

"Maybe he was looking at my stupid hair." Gaara muttered and Ino smiled at him.

"You look adorable."

"Can you stop with that?" Gaara looked around the bleachers for a place to sit. He couldn't really find one they were so packed.

"Gaara! Come here!" Gaara saw his sister and Shikamaru at the top in the corner. Ino and Gaara awkwardly moved their way through the sea of people.

"Hey guys! I didn't know you'd be here." Ino said with a smile. Shikamaru sighed and crossed his arms.

"He didn't want to come. I did. I never saw Lee fight before. I wanted to watch." Temari grinned.

Gaara turned his attention to the mats where Lee and Sasuke stood. They bowed at each other and got into a fighting stance. Gaara wouldn't admit how much he loved Lee's one arm behind the back other hand out in front of him, stance. To quote Ino, it was cute.

Sasuke and Lee knew how to fight. It was amazing to watch them. Gaara was impressed with Lee's speed. Sasuke was fast, yeah, but sometimes it seemed hard to even see Lee he was moving so quickly. Gaara was impressed with the way they fought. It wasn't angry, it was almost like dancing. Especially since Lee really liked flipping out of the way when Sasuke attempted to land a hit. Lee knew how to avoid everything and it was really awesome to see. Gaara bit his lip and heard Ino giggle next to him. He elbowed her roughly and she giggled louder. Gaara couldn't remember a time where he would label something this way but... watching Lee fight was sexy. Lee fighting was so incredibly sexy that Gaara felt uncomfortable being there. He never knew Lee could move that way and it was exciting. Why hadn't he watched him before?

In the end, Lee won the fight. Not for lack of trying on Sasuke's part. He truly put up an amazing fight but Lee was just faster.

"Turned on?" Ino teased and Gaara shoved her lightly and she laughed with delight. "I knew it." Gaara struggled to not spit out an "I hate you". What are friends for?


	19. Chapter 19

**I may stop posting this story to this site since it doesn't seem to be garnering any attention.**

"Gaara." Gaara stirred at the familiar voice but didn't wake up completely. "Gaara, wake up." Gaara opened his eyes and Kakashi stood by the side of his bed. "You didn't set your alarm. You're a bit behind schedule." Gaara looked at the clock at it was nearly 30 minutes after he usually woke up.

"Thanks Kakashi." Gaara rubbed his eyes and Kakashi left the room. Gaara got dressed and wondered why Lee didn't wake him up. He walked to Lee's room and saw the light was off and the bed was made. Interesting.

Gaara brushed his teeth and went downstairs to see Kakashi and Guy drinking coffee at the table. Kakashi held up a to-go mug and Gaara took it gratefully.

"Do you need a ride?" Guy asked and Gaara shook his head.

"Where's Lee?" Guy laughed happily, which was something much too loud for this early in the morning.

"Lee has started his intensive morning training. You'll be lucky to see him in the mornings." Gaara frowned and nodded. "Don't worry! He'll be done soon. Now come on! Let's get you to school." Guy stood up and Gaara looked at Kakashi confused and Kakashi shrugged.

"I guess we're bringing you to school." Kakashi said and stood up, following Guy outside.

"Let's go, rival!" Guy called happily and Kakashi rolled his eyes.

"I'm already behind you, shut up." The interaction made Gaara chuckle softly. They seemed to be like him and Lee. Gaara wondered if that would be them some day. Taking care of unwanted children. Gaara watched the backs of Guy and Kakashi and just the prospect of them taking him into their home was overwhelming. Gaara lived with them for a month now and they treated him well. Much better than Rasa ever did. Were most parents like this? Is this how Rasa was for Temari and Kankuro? Gaara frowned at the thought. Maybe Guy and Kakashi would hate him too if he killed their wife. Giving birth to Gaara was the worst thing his mom could've done in Rasa's eyes.

Gaara was amazed that with all the bad he's done in his life, he found two amazing dads like Guy and Kakashi.

"You coming, Gaara?" Kakashi asked from the passenger seat. Gaara blinked himself back into reality.

"Yeah. Sorry, just thinking..."

Sasuke slammed his locker door harshly and put his forehead on the cold metal. His brother was infuriating and he just wanted to be left alone. School was like a haven for him now. This was around the time their parents were murdered so he got really overprotective and annoying. Sasuke had his own car but Itachi insisted on driving him to school and picking him up. It was like this all November long. In December, Itachi would be too busy at work to do this and Sasuke knew the month was almost over but for now, it was frustrating.

"Hey Sasuke, whacha up to?" Naruto asked, leaning on the locker next to his.

"Nothing." Sasuke muttered with a scowl. Naruto frowned.

"Itachi being that crazy again, huh?" Sasuke groaned.

"You have no idea." It didn't help that Itachi found out Sasuke's sexual preference last month and kept giving him lectures on safe sex. Just because Sasuke knew he was gay, didn't mean he had a line of suitors at his doorstep. Itachi bought him a box of condoms and a book all about gay sex. Seriously? Big brothers are the worst.

"Sorry man. You able to do something after school or no?" Naruto asked and Sasuke's cheeks warmed and he pouted.

"I'm not sure, I'll have to ask. Like a 5 year old. I'm 17 years old, almost 18 and this is how I'm treated. Ridiculous." Sasuke rambled and his thoughts wandered. He realized it was a good thing Itachi didn't know about Sasuke's (painfully obvious) crush on Naruto. He didn't think he would ever hear the end of it. The only reason Itachi hadn't talked to any of his friends about it, was because Sasuke said he hadn't told them yet.

Which brings him to Lee. Lee has the biggest, gayest crush on Gaara and Gaara clearly has the biggest, gayest crush on Lee, yet Lee is dating Sakura. Hell, if Sasuke knew if Naruto had a crush on him, he would-

"Hey guys!" Sasuke turned to see Sakura bundled in Lee's Track & Field sweater. With how often it gets passed from Sakura to Gaara, it was a wonder if Lee bought it for himself or not. "How are you doing today?"

"Fine I guess. Sasuke is still being babied by Itachi though." Naruto filled her in and Sasuke glared at Naruto and Sakura looked at Sasuke pityingly.

"Oh I'm sorry. I know your parents died this month. How are you handling it?" Sasuke shrugged. He was 6 when they died, it wasn't like he remembered them much. He lived most of his life without them than with them. "If you need to talk about anything, I'm here." Sasuke nodded at the obligatory comment and opened his locker again to get his phone.

"I don't want to be here today." Sasuke sighed and Naruto grinned.

"Let's skip." He offered and the idea sounded nice. Sakura crossed her arms.

"You're not seriously that dumb to skip." She stated flatly. Sasuke frowned at that, he was one of the top students, it wasn't like if he skipped his grades would plummet. They would understand. "If Itachi finds out you skipped during November, he will freak out." Ah, that is right.

"I'll just say I don't feel well. I'm old enough to sign myself out." Sasuke pulled out his dark blue Soccer Captain sweater. He didn't have practice after school so it didn't matter. "You coming, Naruto?" Naruto grinned and waved at an annoyed looking Sakura.

"Fine. Leave. Be safe you two!" Sasuke raised his arm up as a response, but didn't turn to face her.

"Hey Sakura!" Lee greeted and she turned to him and saw his face was red and he was out of breath.

"You started training in the morning again?" He nodded. "Okay, just make sure you don't tire yourself out too bad. You still have to learn things in school for a few more months before you graduate." Sakura smiled and Lee laughed lightly.

"Yeah I know. It is just so nice to be able to work out again knowing I can train at the dojo! I am very happy." Sakura kissed Lee's cheek and he blushed.

"I'm glad to hear that. Now get to class before you're late. And Sasuke and Naruto are skipping today." Lee frowned at that.

"Itachi?" Sakura nodded and Lee gave an understanding look. "Well, I will see you later, blossom." He smiled at her and jogged down the hallway. Normally he'd walk her to class but their homerooms were on the opposite sides of the school and he was already written up for being late too many times.

While he was running he saw Gaara dropping Ino off at her first class. He was wearing his own red sweater, a nice pair of jeans, the tan boots he usually wore and was holding a to-go mug that Lee knew had coffee in it. Why did looking at Gaara make Lee so unbelievably happy?

"Gaara!" Lee chirped and Gaara looked away from Ino to stare at Lee. He smiled. "It feels so weird to not see you in the morning. I am sorry I missed you."

"It's okay. You're training now, right? You seem like you're having fun." Lee nodded enthusiastically.

"Oh yes, it is very fun! I was wondering if you would like to come to the dojo with me at some point." Gaara paused for a second. Lee woke up at 4am to get to the dojo to work out for 2 hours before getting ready for school at the dojo. None of that sounded like a fun idea.

"Yeah, of course." Gaara agreed and Lee grinned at him.

"That is great. I am very happy. Oh, how rude of me, good morning Ino! I will see you two later. Goodbye!" And Lee was off before either could say anything to him. Ino turned to Gaara with a smirk and Gaara groaned.

"Don't even start. It is way too early and this is only my second cup of coffee." Ino put her hands up defensively but kept the smirk on her face.

"I didn't say anything." Gaara glowered at her.

"I'm going to class now." Ino waved as Gaara walked down the hallway.

* * *

Gaara and Ino were working together again. Gaara was prepping the turkey for thanksgiving and Ino was filling the pie crusts they froze earlier. There was so much to get done and Gaara was stressing out. They had over 100 orders for pies and he absolutely hated making pie crust. Ino didn't mind but she was weird and seemed to like things that were rolled out. Temari kept hopping in back to help roll out pie crusts and apologizing to Gaara continuously.

"I didn't realize how many orders there was. Once I realized I stopped the front of house from taking any more. I'm so sorry." Gaara didn't respond. Ino teased him for his bad mood and finally he was done with the brine so he added the turkey and put it in the fridge.

"Seriously Gaara, you need to calm down. Being in a bad mood won't help us get done faster." Ino reasoned and Gaara glared at her and pulled out pie filling recipes and started doing counts. He walked to the fridge with a marker and in big letters wrote:

Apple: 43 (-12)

Cherry: 12 (-12)

Strawberry Rhubarb: 24 (-12)

Blueberry: 18 (-12)

Pumpkin: 28 (-12)

Total: 125 (-60) = 65

"You've got to be shitting me right now." Gaara angrily ran his fingers through his hair and hit his head on the door. "The pies have to be done by tomorrow and we have sixty five more fucking pies to do. Ino, how many pie crusts do we have in the freezer?"

"... six." Ino's small voice said and Gaara groaned.

"If it makes you feel any better, I called in help." Temari said with a nervous smile.

"Help? I hope you called in 7 fucking people just to sit here and roll pie shells. It took Ino 3 hours to roll out 21 pie shells yesterday. I am never doing pie orders ever again. I hate making pies." Ino sighed and started to roll faster.

"I understand Gaara. I'm sorry. You know how important you are here. Don't be upset. We'll have a number cut off for pies for Christmas if it makes you feel any better." Gaara scowled.

"The thing no one seems to understand is I somehow have to make these pies, prep for thanksgiving AND keep the pastry case stocked. How do you think I'm doing that? Magic? I'm not just pulling shit from thin air and it's getting really stressful keeping up-"

"Hey Temari, sorry I'm late. Here to help." Gaara shut up instantly and his eyes were set on Lee and wide. He closed his mouth tightly and Ino and Temari snorted and covered their mouths, turning away trying not to laugh. "Are you okay Gaara?" Lee asked, voice full of concern. He was at Gaara's side in an instant. "Do you need anything?"

"I... No... Lee what... are you doing here?" Compared to Gaara's fit 20 seconds prior, his voice was meek now. Temari and Ino thanked the gods that Lee was free to help out. There's only one person that could get Gaara to calm down. Oddly enough Lee could also wind him up.

"Temari said you were stressed about all the pie orders so I came to help you. I do not want you to be stressed out." Lee was tying an apron over his shirt and put a headband on his head with a smile. "So what can I do to help?"

"Um. You can roll pie shells." Lee nodded and walked around the kitchen with ease getting the things he needed together. Disposable pie containers, a French rolling pin, a scoop of flour, several wrapped portions of pie dough.

"Would you mind if I shared your table?" Lee asked and Gaara shook his head and Lee placed his things down and when Gaara looked at Ino and Temari they had shit-eating grins on their faces. Gaara glared at them and mouthed "shut up" and they started giggling again.

* * *

Lee was useless at a lot of things in the kitchen. As it turns out, rolling pie shells was not one of them. He rolled pie shells so quickly that him, Ino and Temari were done rolling the 59 pie shells in an hour. Gaara made more filling for cherry, blueberry, and apple pie while they rolled shells. Now Gaara was working on a big batch of pumpkin and strawberry rhubarb.

It took about 6 hours, but everything was done. The pies they made were baked and ready to be packaged. It was 10pm and everyone was tired of pies. Temari left after the pie shells were rolled to managed the front until Shikamaru showed up. When they were just waiting for pies to go in the oven, Gaara began working on his regular list. He expected Lee to leave too but Lee stayed the entire time to help.

Ino kept sneaking pictures of the two working together while she pretended to text. She'd send them to Gaara later, Gaara would yell at her for being a creep and he would save the pictures anyway because that's just what Gaara did.

"Are you ready to go home?" Lee asked and Gaara went to say Ino was driving him and Ino made the "cut it" motion and he stopped talking.

"Um. Yes." Ino smiled at Gaara from behind Lee and gave Gaara a thumbs up.

"At least tomorrow will be better, right?" Gaara sighed. Tomorrow they didn't have school because of thanksgiving. They had off Tuesday-Friday which made no sense why they couldn't have off Monday too. Just Desserts was closed on thanksgiving and the day before thanksgiving which is why everyone had to get their pies tomorrow. However for those two days Gaara had to make a thanksgiving dinner for about 20 people. It was going to be fun. He hated Kankuro with a passion right now.

"In certain aspects. Tomorrow I won't bake anything since we're closed for two days. I wouldn't want to throw out too many things. I still have to prepare for thanksgiving though. Will you be there?" Gaara realized he hadn't even asked Lee yet. Lee smiled at him.

"I would not miss it for the world."


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter Twenty:**

Lee ran out to start it so it would be warm by the time Gaara was ready to go. When he announced he was turning on the car and he'd be back, Ino looked at Gaara. When they heard the sound of the door shutting Ino made a very girlishly noise.

"Oh honey he likes you so much." Gaara frowned and Ino followed. "What's wrong?"

"How much longer am I going to go through this? How much longer will he be with her?" Ino sighed and hugged her friend.

"I know. Boys can be dumb. Don't look at me like that. I said can be. Obviously not you. You're my perfect little raccoon." She teased and he scowled.

"I am not a raccoon." He argued and she ignored him.

"Anyway, you two should totally make out and then you text me about it later." She winked at Gaara blushed and put his hand to his face and rubbed down. "You love me, it's okay."

"I don't know where you got that inclination but you are sadly mistaken." Ino flicked his forehead and went to the bathroom to put on her coat. Gaara followed. "Don't miss me too much on your ride home."

"Wow Gaara, that was such an Ino thing to say. I love it." She smiled and he sighed.

They both walked towards the exit and Gaara shut off all the lights and they left the building. Gaara walked Ino to her car and she hugged him and kissed his cheek before she climbed in. He waited for her to turn on her car, and she waved at him and he waved back. Gaara turned to walk towards Lee's car and saw him looking at him as if lost in thought. Gaara got to the passenger side and sat down, buckled himself in, took off his shoes, and sat cross-legged.

"Are you okay, Lee?" Gaara asked and Lee nodded slowly.

"Yes, thank you for your concern. Would you like to do something tonight?" Gaara looked at the time.

"What?" Lee shrugged. "Thank you, that's helpful." Lee tried not to smile.

"I just... I do not know. I am just happy to be with you. I know it is late, but still." Gaara's heart thudded in his chest and he looked at Lee.

"We could always watch a movie." Lee looked at him and a grin slowly blossomed on his face. Lee wondered if it was because Gaara wanted to cuddle with him or not. The thought gave him butterflies.

"That sounds wonderful. What would you like to watch?" Gaara shrugged. "I will pick it then. What Disney movies do you like?"

"... I've... I've never watched one." Gaara admitted softly and Lee figured freaking out or being amazed would just make Gaara feel bad so he did neither. He just smiled.

"I would love to show you them all. If you would like me to, that is." Gaara nodded. "Okay! We will start with one of my favorites. Beauty and the Beast."

* * *

Gaara loved Beauty and the Beast. He loved it so much that Lee mentioned the new live action movie, Lee bought it online and they watched that too. They were up until nearly 3am watching it and after, Gaara pulled out his phone and looked up "Tale as old as Time" and hummed along to it. When Lee laughed tiredly at him, Gaara shoved him with his shoulder. Lee shoved him back playfully and Gaara narrowed his eyes. He was so tired. Why did he stay up so late?

"You are cute." Lee said randomly and Gaara laid down on the pillows.

"Shut up, Lee. Go to sleep." Lee grinned and laid as close to Gaara as possible but didn't touch him. He watched Gaara's face. With his eyes closed, he saw his eyelashes on his upper cheeks. They were lovely. Lee examined every freckle on Gaara's cheeks and nose until he was staring at Gaara's lips. He's dreamt about those lips for longer than he could admit and with his tired mental state, he was on the verge of kissing them. "What are you doing?" Gaara grumbled and looked at Lee through his lashes. Lee just smiled at him.

"I am not doing anything." Lee whispered and Gaara glared.

"Exactly. Aren't you more... touchy?" Lee's grin was almost devilish.

"Why? Would you like me to be?" Gaara's cheeks warmed and he looked away embarrassed. Before he knew it, Lee wrapped his arms around his hips and pulled him in close. On a cold night like this one, Lee's warmth was much welcomed. Gaara wasn't really used to the cold yet. "You just had to ask." Lee teased softly and Gaara could barely keep his eyes opened anymore.

So he was convinced the soft press of Lee's lips on his forehead and the quiet "I love you" was just a part of a very nice dream.

* * *

Despite going to sleep at an ungodly hour, they were both up by 730am. Lee woke up because he wasn't used to sleeping in and Gaara woke up because he wasn't used to sleeping.

Neither of them made any movements signaling the other that they were awake and alert. Why? Lee was super embarrassed of the erection he had and Gaara just felt warm and lazy. Lee was spooning him from behind and it was just a nice, safe feeling.

Lee reprimanded himself even though he knew he couldn't control an erection in the morning. It didn't happen that often, in fact it hadn't been a problem in quite a while so it was inconvenient that it had to happen now.

Gaara knew he should get up and get ready so he could spend some time doing leisure activities before selling his soul to the café, so he shifted in the bed and turned to face Lee. Gaara was surprised to see Lee was more alert than just waking up. He wondered how long Lee had been up for.

"Good morning." Gaara said with a smile and Lee bit his lip at the sight. Gaara's bedhead was possibly cuter than his normal messy hair look, his eyes were half lidded and sleepy, there was an adorable flush to his cheeks and just the fact that Lee was waking up to Gaara cuddling into his arms was everything he wanted.

Lee suddenly had the strongest urge to roll on top of Gaara and press their lips together and let his hands feel all over Gaara's body... His cheeks brightened.

"G-good morning Gaara. I'll be back." Lee was out of the bed and in the bathroom at record time leaving Gaara confused in the bed. After a second of processing what happened, Gaara checked his breath to see if it was so terrible it would cause Lee to run away. How odd.

* * *

"Lee! Are you going to be training at the dojo this fine morning?!" Guy asked with excitement and Lee smiled sheepishly.

"No, dad. I actually was going to help Gaara at the café today since he is very busy with thanksgiving work. Maybe later?" Guy gave him a thumbs up and whispered something to Kakashi and Kakashi rolled his eyes.

"Yeah as if that happened..." Kakashi muttered and picked up his book and ignored everyone at the table.

Gaara finally came downstairs, fresh from a shower and with his hair flat against his face; it made his beautiful eyes pop even more. Lee couldn't do anything but stare. Gaara was gorgeous. How had anyone been created to look this perfect?

"Good morning Gaara!" Lee chirped happily, as if they hadn't already said their good mornings earlier. Gaara gave Lee a soft smile and Lee chugged his juice. "Would you like to do something before we go to work?"

"You're coming with me again today?" Gaara asked, walked over to the counter, Guy passed him a mug of coffee and Gaara took it gratefully and sat down. He didn't know when he started drinking coffee... Yes he did. Oddly enough, it was after he started sleeping more. He became more tired, if that was a thing. His body wasn't used to this much rest. Sometimes, he didn't like it.

"Oh yes. You said there was much to do and I do not want you to be overwhelmed. Thanksgiving is about being thankful for what you have and I do not think you can do that after working so hard with no one to help you." Gaara nodded slowly and sipped his coffee.

"Thank you, Lee. As for your question before, I honestly have no idea what to do this early." Lee thought for a moment.

"I think I have an idea." Lee said and jumped out of his seat and ran upstairs to grab a sweater. He noticed Gaara wasn't wearing one so grabbed two of them. He pulled on some socks and jogged down the stairs, tossing the sweater at Gaara and then putting his on. "Dad, would you mind if I borrowed one of the cars?" He asked and Guy smiled and shook his head.

"Not at all, Lee. Take mine, Kakashi may need his later." Lee smiled thankfully and dragged Gaara out of the house. Guy looked over at Kakashi. "Are you sure?"

"Yes. Trust me. I can tell." Kakashi insisted and Guy pointed up the stairs.

"But Gaara wasn't in his room last night but clearly slept here." Kakashi put his book down and looked levelly at Guy.

"I am aware. Did you also notice this is not the first time it happened? They seem to like sharing a bed but trust me, I would be able to tell if they weren't virgins anymore." He went back to reading his book and Kakashi stared at the door.

"They remind me of us when we were that age." Kakashi smirked and put his book down again.

"Yeah but if I remember correctly neither of us had a girlfriend, you kept asking me out, and I kept saying no." Guy frowned at him.

"You wound me, rival." Kakashi just laughed.

* * *

Lee brought them to a plaza where he bought breakfast sandwiches and Gaara some coffee. From there, Lee loaded them up into the car again and began to drive. It was a 15 minute car ride that was taken in silence, and oddly comforting.

When Lee parked, it was at a parking area on a mountain that overlooked the lands below. It was a beautiful sight, and being late fall, the sun was still low in the sky giving the colors a pink and orange hue before they faded into blue.

"It's very beautiful, Lee." Gaara commented and Lee handed him his sandwich and Lee smiled at him. They ate in a comfortable silence and Lee kept looking at his passenger with a swell of his heart. Looking at Gaara made him feel whole.

"Gaara." He said, barely above a whisper. Gaara looked over. "I have not been the best friend these past few weeks, but I would just like to let you know how grateful I am that you have come into my life. You are such a loyal friend and I would never trade you for anything in the world."

Gaara looked at Lee, dead in his dark black eyes. He wasn't sure what to say. So, Gaara did what he normally did and began to overthink. He thought about Lee's tone. Gentle, loving, full of admiration. He thought of his words. Seemed both thought out, constructed beautifully; yet personal and straight from the heart. He began to think about the happenings of the previous week and felt a sense of guilt for essentially stealing someone's boyfriend's affection, but not enough to stop. Gaara was selfish that way, he wanted to not be, but in his entire life, no one had shown him that type of affection. No one had treated him with that much admiration and love. Gaara wasn't willing to stop that.

So, Gaara stared at Lee for a while and leaned his head to Lee's shoulder. Lee's arms wrapped around Gaara's torso in an embrace. This was comfort. This is what that felt like. Lee always gave him comfort.

"Are you okay?" Lee said quietly and when Gaara blinked a few times, he realized he was crying. Not much, just a few stray tears fell. Gaara wiped the left side of his cheek and before he could get to the right, Lee stopped his hand. Him and Gaara shared eye contact. They both looked at each other for a while with the beautiful sun in the background, lighting up their faces. "You are beautiful, Gaara." Lee wasn't sure if he meant to say that aloud or not, but it didn't change his opinion. Gaara was beautiful, and someone should've told him a while ago.

"You are very handsome, Rock Lee." Gaara responded and Lee's face turned red. "I mean it." Lee could tell in his voice that he really did mean it.

Lee wanted to see himself the way Gaara saw him. All the years of bullying for his strange looks and here Gaara was, telling him without a doubt that he was handsome. Lee just couldn't believe it. Gaara was too pure.

There were more words on the tip of his tongue, more words he needed to convey to Gaara that he couldn't do. Lee just gave Gaara a watery smile and hugged him again, pulling him close. It felt more intimate than any kiss he had with Sakura. Anything he could've ever done with Sakura wouldn't be close to this simple hug he had with Gaara. He was just shaking with emotion, he wanted to tell Gaara how much he was loved but he couldn't bring himself to do it.

Lee vowed when he broke up with Sakura, he would show Gaara how he should've been treated his entire life. Lee wiped his eyes and turned his attention to the car.

"It is time we go." He declared, voice wavering. If there was one thing he didn't want to do, it was drive away from this moment. This moment he would hold dear in his mind and his heart for as long as he breathed. Even if Gaara didn't end up with him in the end, this would always be the perfect moment. Nothing was as flawless as sitting on the mountain watching the beautiful sky, sharing the moment with the person Lee held most dear in the world.

* * *

Through the day, Gaara stayed quiet. He had his earbuds in and he was listening to something on his phone. Lee watched him mouth words so he could only guess it was a song. Which song, he wasn't sure. Lee didn't mind the lack of attention. Gaara seemed adamant about learning whatever he was mouthing. Lee could tell because if it looked like he messed up, Gaara would frown, pick up his phone, and likely restart the song.

Lee wanted to hear Gaara sing in the worst way. He wondered what Gaara sounded like. Lee bit his lip and a few seconds later, Ino walked into the kitchen. Lee was usually jealous of Ino. He had several reasons to be even though he tried to hide it. Ino was beautiful, she was always with Gaara, they seemed to be developing a friendship quickly and a part of him wondered if Ino had heard Gaara sing. Lee frowned at the thought.

"Hello boys!" She chirped happily and walked to the bathroom. Lee smiled and waved but turned to face Gaara who wasn't paying attention. Typical. Even so, Lee promised he'd get Gaara to sing for him.


	21. Chapter 21

Lee didn't see Gaara work as quickly, efficiently, and beautifully as he did on Thursday. Thanksgiving was turning out to be quite the affair. It was being held at the café and since it was closed, Temari, Shikamaru and Kankuro were in the other room setting up. They pushed tables together, gathered extra chairs, Temari even added some decoration. The bar had an array of different snack foods on it (that thankfully Gaara didn't have to make, the poor guy) and both TVs were on different channels.

People should begin to arrive in about 3 hours. Ino was on her way now to help. Kakashi and Guy had to do a couple of things but promised they'd be there soon.

Lee wasn't sure who else was invited. He knew the invitation was given to Naruto and Sasuke, which he thought was super nice of Gaara to do, especially because neither of them had much of a family. Sasuke was shocked when Gaara invited him, but agreed with a rare smile. He asked if it was possible to bring his brother and Gaara told him of course. Naruto was thrilled and happily announced he wouldn't have to eat ramen on Thanksgiving again which made Lee frown deeply. He was upset he never thought to invite Naruto over. He knew Naruto was an orphan but he figured his adoptive father would have a family to bring him to.

Lee looked at Gaara cube potatoes and throw them into a large pot. He was impressed with the speed that Gaara was cutting and even more so, he was impressed with the precision.

Lee was in charge of pies. When Gaara had asked him to do that, Lee grinned. Gaara had a tiny habit of asking Lee to do tasks he didn't want to do. Lee would of course oblige. Gaara could ask him to do anything and Lee would never say no.

Lee had three pie crusts ready to go and felt proud that there was something he could do in the kitchen that Gaara trusted him to do completely on his own. Lee made sure his pie crusts were perfect, even the crimp. Gaara commented on how nice they were the other day and Lee beamed. He was happy that Gaara found his pies beautiful.

Gaara now had one ear bud in and he was listening to music and mumbling along to it more than singing it. Lee could only hold in his curiosity for so long.

"What have you been listening to?" He asked and Gaara looked up and took the ear bud out.

"Care to guess?" Gaara said simply and wiped his knife off and began cutting garlic.

"...Oh. You seemed to be interested in Beauty and the Beast. Is it Tale as old as Time?" Gaara nodded and Lee smiled. "That is wonderful. I do love that song. I used to sing it to myself all of the time." Lee just realized how pathetic that sounded.

"Oh you did?" Gaara seemed interested. "Then go ahead and sing it."

"W-what? No. I cannot." Lee turned red and Gaara raised a brow and continued to cut more garlic. "It is a duet. Will you accompany me?" Lee decided to try and Gaara smirked at him and looked back at the cutting board. Lee watched him stare intensely at the cuts he was making and was startled to actually hear Gaara start to sing the song.

"Tale as old as time. True as it can be. Barely even friends, then somebody bends unexpectedly." Lee's curiosity was substantially satiated hearing Gaara sing, in fact for a moment he was rendered speechless. Sure, he assumed Gaara would be able to sing, it was just how he sung that amazed him. Gaara, however, kept his eyes on Lee expectantly. Lee colored, he wasn't completely confident, but with his eyes locked onto Gaara's, he continued the song.

"Just a little change. Small to say the least. Both a little scared. Neither one prepared-"

"-Beauty and the beast" Gaara was pleasantly surprised to learn that not only could Lee sing, he could sing well. And well wasn't even cutting it, his voice was beautiful. It was different than his own. Gaara took notes and strictly sung the notes he needed. Lee's voice... it was more show-offy with the note changes that weren't necessary, but he couldn't argue it was beautiful. And when they sung together, their voices just seemed to fit. For two people with vastly different tunes, singing together was just right. "Ever just the same, ever a surprise, ever as before and ever just as sure, as the sun will rise."

Going through the song, taking turns singing, Gaara realized he was singing the woman part but honestly didn't care. Right now, he was standing in the kitchen at one table, knife forgotten, hands gripping the wooden bench with his eyes locked to Lee's. Lee was standing opposite of him at the metal workbench parallel to his and his eyes were unmoving. It was almost like a really intense conversation instead of singing. Neither one of them tried to one up the other and Lee had a smile on his face whereas Gaara had a look of concentration. Lee knew the song more so had more fun, Gaara was just trying to remember the lyrics correctly.

"Certain as the sun..." Lee started, Gaara echoed him and Lee started to move around the table, walking towards Gaara. "Rising in the east."

"Tale as old as time, song as old as rhyme, beauty and the beast."

"Tale as old as time..." Gaara sung, his voice much quieter now that Lee was standing on the opposite side of his table, less than a foot away.

"Song as old as rhyme..." Lee sung just as softly, feeling himself lean closer.

"Beauty and the beast." They sung together, the same noise level. Gaara felt himself lean more over the table. Lee looked so good in his chef jacket with the script "Gaara" on the left breast pocket. He learned quickly why Lee loved to see Gaara in his clothes. There was something intimately possessive about seeing his name on Lee.

"Beauty and the..." They were so close to each other, Gaara could feel Lee's breath. His body was trembling at Lee's close proximity. Was this honestly happening? "Beast..." Gaara drew the note out as long as he could, voice just above a whisper.

The note was cut off when Lee finally kissed him. It was the softest, most chaste kiss Lee could give. It almost pained him to not kiss him with more force, to really put his emotions in the kiss. Lee also didn't want the kiss to be too much, it was the end of a song and the song ended on such a soft note, that anything more than this kiss would seem excessive.

Lee pulled away slowly and watched Gaara's eyes flutter open and there was an expression of disbelief on his face.

"Why did you kiss me?" He whispered, unable to find his voice.

"I-I..." Lee flushed, should he tell him the truth or lie? Say he didn't mean it. It was in the moment. There was so much he could say but nothing he was sure of. "I've been wanting to do that for a while."

"...What about Sakura?" Gaara asked, his heart felt like it was in his throat. He could probably count his heartrate by just feeling the throb in his neck, his heart was beating so hard.

"..." Lee looked ashamed which wasn't the reaction Gaara wanted to see. "I apologize for the timing that I kissed you. I should not have done that while I am with Sakura. Not because there was any part of me that didn't want to kiss you, I assure you every part of me wants to kiss you. But I apologize because it was... not right to do. I do not want you to think I will be like this in every relationship I am in. I do not mean to be a cheater, I am just in love with you." Lee's face burned with embarrassment and shame. Gaara's eyes widened at the admission. In love?

Gaara grabbed Lee by the unbuttoned top flap of his chef jacket and yanked him in close and kissed him. Kissing over the table was quite awkward but Lee didn't mind much. He cupped Gaara's face, lightly at first, but tightened his grip once the kiss became more passionate. Gaara pulled away and went to say something but his eyes traveled to the kitchen door where Ino stood, eyes wide, face red and with a look of shock.

"Hello Ino." Gaara greeted calmly, like she didn't walk into something so private. Lee tensed and quickly turned around, his face red.

"Hi..." For someone that wouldn't shut up, she sure was quiet now. "Gaara sweetie, can I talk to you?" Gaara nodded and they both went into the bathroom. Lee stared at the door in horror. What had he done? What if Ino and Gaara were together and he just broke them up? What if Ino threw this in Sakura's face before he got the chance to break up with her? Lee felt so ashamed. He shouldn't have done that. At the same time, he was glad he did.

In the bathroom, Ino was starting to be able to articulate words.

"What did I just walk in on?" She whispered and Gaara smirked at her. "Oh Gaara... Sweetie. I totally take credit for this."

"You? I'm the one who essentially dragged him across the table." Gaara whispered back harshly and Ino's grin was almost feral. "Fine, you can take credit if it makes you feel better."

"How much do you wanna bet he's totally out there freaking out?" Ino said with a laugh as she put on her chef jacket.

"That's a strong possibility. I don't regret it though. He told me he's in love with me though." Ino's jaw dropped at the same time, she smiled.

"Holy shit, really? That's awesome. Now you two can get ~married~!" Gaara frowned at her.

"How does anything involving Lee eventually turn into us getting married. Would you like me to say you're going to get married at the next person you show interest in?" Ino went to make a remark and stopped herself with a smirk.

"Nice use of the lack of pronouns." She addressed and he inclined his head slightly.

"Thanks I try. I think you'd say that sentence 'nice lack of the use of pronouns' though." Gaara corrected and Ino glared at him and held out her arms. Gaara took the hint and helped her roll up her sleeves.

"Can you not be a smartass for 3 goddamn seconds?" She sighed and Gaara perked a brow that essentially was a "no". "Yeah I figured. Anyway, are you going to be making out the entire time? Should I leave? I'm sure I have condoms in my bag somewhere..." She opened her purse and Gaara threw a stack of paper towels at her. "Fine, I'll look later."

"We aren't going to use condoms Ino." He said with his face pink.

"Oh going in raw?" Gaara's face turned even more red.

"Can we not talk about this? Please. It's making me uncomfortable." Ino raised an eyebrow but said nothing and hung up her bag.

"Of course sweetie. I'll make fun of you for it later." She opened the bathroom door and they walked out together. When Gaara looked up he saw that Lee was back at his own table working way to hard on the pies to be considered normal. His face was still very red and Ino shoved Gaara over towards Lee's table and loudly announced "I'm going to get some coffee I'll be back in 3 minutes." And walked out of the kitchen.

"Sorry about her." Gaara said blankly, glaring at her figure as she left. "She's a nuisance."

"Oh n-not at all." Gaara examine Lee's face and leaned on the table Lee was working on. Lee eventually stopped working and looked at Gaara. "I-I..."

"You are embarrassed, I see that. There is no need. Ino isn't out to get you." Gaara promised and Lee nodded meekly. "I'm sorry if I put you in an uncomfortable position."

"Oh no, Gaara. You did not. I put myself in one but I cannot say I actually mind." Gaara stared at Lee intently. "What?"

"Do you really... love... me?" He said slowly and Lee's face broke out into a beautiful smile.

"I do." The way Lee stared at Gaara made Gaara feel a swarm of emotions.

"Then why are you with Sakura?" The question wasn't angry, it wasn't really any emotion. It was almost a statement. A statement that made Lee's smile slip away.

"Gaara how are we looking in here?" Temari asked from the doorway.

"We're fine. How are we looking out there?"

"Almost completely set up. I wanted to let you know something though. Uncle Yashamaru will be here." Gaara stopped, his body tensed and he looked up and Temari looked even more uncomfortable. "So will dad."

"...Why is Rasa coming when I'm cooking all of the food? Doesn't he want something not made from a demon?" Temari walked in and hugged Gaara.

"I told them not to come but you know how dad is." Gaara broke away from Temari.

"No. I worked so damn hard on this dinner and now he's going to come and just fuck everything up."

"I will not let him. Neither will dad and Kakashi, you know that." Lee said as sure as he could.

"I need a minute alone." Gaara stormed out of the kitchen and Temari winced when she heard the front door slam. Ino was in the kitchen in a second.

"What the hell happened to Gaara?" She asked, eyes mainly on Lee. Lee held up his arms defensively.

"Dad is coming to Thanksgiving." Temari mumbled, unsure if Ino even know that much about Gaara.

"Ew." Ino frowned at the news. "My poor Gaara." Lee was suddenly annoyed that Ino knew what Rasa showing up meant to Gaara. Who gave her the right to know? Lee frowned at himself and tried to swallow down jealousy. He wouldn't understand where it kept coming from.

* * *

Gaara climbed up onto the roof of the building and hid in such a way that no one could see him. He really didn't need anyone bothering him right now. Not even Lee. Lee was the one clouding his mind too much right now.

Gaara was able to hear Ino and Lee coming outside and saw the tops of their heads. Gaara laid down on the roof and stared up at the sky. It was about 12pm and it was beautiful outside, even if it was cold. The air felt nice on Gaara's skin, he was so warm.

"Where do you suppose Gaara went?" Ino's voice asked.

"He said he would like to be alone. So probably somewhere that we cannot find him for now. We should give him time. Would you like to assist me with the rest of the list? We can at least help Gaara while he is calming down." Lee, always the voice of reason.

"...okay." Ino didn't seem keen on not looking for Gaara and Gaara felt nice that they even came outside to try. But Lee was right, he didn't need distractions right now. He just wanted to think. There was so much to think about.

* * *

Ino had made croissants and biscuits and they were in the oven baking. Lee finished the pies and they were cooling on the rack. They both peeled vegetables for different dishes, portioned things out for the main dishes. Ino basted the turkey and taught Lee why she was doing it. They put in the extra serving of stuffing that wouldn't fit in the turkey in a small pan.

Ino made cookies, just regular chocolate chip. Just to say she did something. She was growing anxious with Gaara nowhere to be found. Lee too, he kept staring at the door. Temari insisted he was okay and to let him cool down. It was stressful when Rasa was involved.

Eventually, Gaara showed up in the kitchen. He had earbuds in so Lee knew he didn't want to talk. He walked around the kitchen making a note of everything that was done already. He began boiling the potatoes and saw the rest of the ingredients for mashed potatoes was scaled out and ready to go. He gave them a nod of thanks but said nothing more on the matter.

Finishing Thanksgiving dinner was done in silence. It was awkward and Lee didn't like it. He wished he could tell Temari that Rasa was not allowed to come. Even though this was his business and his family.

Guy and Kakashi burst through the kitchen doors, startling everyone.

"Wow! What a beautiful setup!" Guy said joyously. "We should get this at home!"

"Why? So you can continue to burn cereal?" Kakashi said dryly and Guy ignored him.

"Happy Thanksgiving, all!" Guy announced and even Gaara had to hide his smirk. He wasn't supposed to be in a good mood but Guy was too entertaining to not smile at.

"We brought your nice clothes since apparently you two think you can have a nice family meal in chef jackets." Kakashi said, holding up two hangers.

"Thank you, Kakashi." It was the first thing Gaara said in nearly two hours.

"What do you have left?" He asked and Gaara looked around and shrugged.

"Nothing really. Just the finishing touches." Kakashi nodded and pointed to the door that used to be Gaara's room.

"Shall I hang this up for when you can get ready?" Gaara nodded and Kakashi went to the room and hung them up and came back. Guy was talking to Lee, both of them very animated so Kakashi ignored them both. Kakashi leaned on the table, bringing himself closer to Gaara's height. "Don't worry. I won't let anything happen to you." He promised and Gaara nodded slowly. "I swear it. None of us will. You're our family now, forget him. He doesn't matter."

"Thank you, Kakashi." Gaara said quietly and Kakashi nodded.

"Now get ready so you don't look like that. Everyone is arriving now and the chef should look presentable. Where is Ino?" Gaara nudged his head towards the bathroom and Kakashi smirked.

"Already getting ready I see. Women." Kakashi laughed and the corner of Gaara's mouth curled up. "Anyway, get ready! Both of you!" Kakashi left the kitchen, dragging Guy behind him.

"I suppose we should get ready now." Lee said nervously and Gaara nodded and walked into his old room. Lee didn't follow, he was probably unsure if Gaara wanted to get changed with him or not. Gaara gave him some time while he examined the clothes Kakashi picked out for the two. Gaara didn't have nice clothes for a dinner so he was curious what was picked out.

Gaara grabbed the hanger and pulled it down. These weren't his clothes. Nice gray slacks, very soft for dress pants. Gaara could tell they were for him since the legs were shorter than what Lee's legs would fit. He felt the shirt that came with it, it felt like the softest fabric Gaara ever touched. He looked at the shirt more closely and saw the tags were still on them with the price ripped off. Kakashi had bought him clothes. The realization made his heart clench and he sat down holding the clothes close to him. This is what parents did. They didn't call their children demons and refuse to let them live in their house. Kakashi was a true parent, not Rasa.

Gaara's mouth pressed tightly together and with shaky hands he examined the tag. It was a cashmere sweater. Gaara never felt cashmere before. It was so nice. He brought it to his face and rubbed it on his cheek. The sweater had a large collar and it buttoned to about his mid-chest. The buttons were rather large and a darker brown, there were pockets on both sides of the sweater. Underneath it was another shirt, it was green.

His eyes wandered to the floor and he saw two pairs of dress shoes. He couldn't really control his emotions at that point. Kakashi and Guy went out to but him new clothes and new shoes because they knew he didn't have them. There was a tiny knock on the door, then Lee walked in. He looked at Gaara on the futon, his eyes red and watery and he was holding a sweater to his chest.

"Are you okay?" Lee was at his side and hugging him in an instant. Gaara sniffled and rubbed his eyes until they didn't feel like they were tearing anymore.

"I'm fine. No one has ever gone out of their way for me like Kakashi and Guy. I'm just thankful." Lee smiled at him and hugged him again.

"You've found the purpose of thanksgiving at least." Gaara nodded and stood back up and walked over to the shoes. He knew they were his because Lee's feet were bigger. Gaara was just realizing how large Lee was. He picked up the shoes and examined them. They were brown leather shoes with the tips blackened. They looked pretty classy. "I hope you do not mind, I stole a pair of your shoes to get your size." Lee admitted.

"You got them for me?" Gaara asked with wide eyes.

"I helped them get your size. Kakashi picked out most of the clothes. He didn't want dad to do it. He said, and I quote 'I don't think Gaara wants to look like a fucking idiot, put those clothes away'." Gaara smiled and didn't agree with Lee, but Lee knew he did. Guy had a weird sense of style. "Put them on, I would love to see how you look."

Gaara nodded and unbuttoned his chef jacket and hung it up on the pipes. He had an undershirt on and hesitantly took it off. Lee was able to actually see him up close and he was right. Gaara did have scars on his back. Long thin wiry scars. Some puncture marks. It was all so strange. Gaara turned to face Lee and there were even some on his chest.

"What happened to you?" Lee asked quietly and Gaara looked down at his chest and his eyes grew softer.

"I wasn't well liked growing up." He said simply and pulled on his new green shirt. Lee stood up and hugged Gaara again.

"I like you enough for everyone." He admitted and Gaara laughed dryly.

"I thought you loved me." Lee pulled away to look into Gaara's eyes.

"I do. I told you I do." Lee didn't ask Gaara if Gaara loved him in return, he would learn eventually. He just smiled at Gaara and helped him put on his new sweater.

Lee stepped back and started to take off his own chef jacket and hung it up next to Gaara's. Lee didn't wear an undershirt. Gaara's eyes examined Lee's chest as he took off his checkered pants and pulled on his new gray pants. Lee was muscular. He wasn't so ridiculously muscular that it looked like too much. He very noticeably had abs, his arms were toned, he was lean. He looked perfect.

"You have a nice body." Gaara noted and Lee blushed, Gaara saw how it went down his neck and even to his shoulders.

"Thank you." Lee pulled on a collared red shirt and a gray cardigan. The way the shirt was, Gaara could see the muscles in his shoulders. The shirt hugged the muscles in his arms and Lee folded the sweater sleeves up to his elbows. Gaara sat down to put on his new shoes at the same time Lee took off his sweatpants to put on his black dress pants. Gaara noticed how nicely curved his butt was. He also wondered why he didn't really care to look at anyone else, but when it was Lee he just admired everything about him.

Once they were both dressed, Lee pulled out a brush from his bag and brushed Gaara's hair. Gaara watched Lee's face of concentration and the tongue that stuck out just slightly between his lips.

"Perfect." Gaara smiled and Lee kissed his forehead. Gaara grabbed Lee's cheeks and pulled him down and kissed him on the lips, feeling Lee's smile against his own.

* * *

Temari was setting up the table with all the food that was put on platters. Her and Ino shared the bathroom where they put on makeup and gossiped about pretty much everything. She could tell there was something Ino wasn't saying and knew it was about her brother, hopefully it was about her brother and Lee. She didn't know how long they were going to dance around each other like this but it was progressively getting more and more ridiculous. Kankuro was putting paper plates in front of everyone's seat and the door opened and Temari looked up. Sasuke, Itachi, Naruto and some guy she never saw before. She stood up straight and walked over to the door where Kakashi and Guy had already greeted everyone.

"Temari! You know these three so they don't matter." Guy brushed them off and Sasuke rolled his eyes and him and Naruto walked away, Itachi following. "This is Naruto's guardian, Jiraiya. Also the writer of Kakashi's favorite book series..." Guy mumbled and Jiraiya gave a thumbs up.

"Nice to meet you. Make yourself comfortable, dinner is ready everyone is just getting dressed." Temari smiled and walked away.

"Now, all you have to do is act like that all night." Guy instructed and Jiraiya raised his eyebrow.

"But I didn't even say anything." Kakashi looked up.

"Exactly." The two said in unison and Jiraiya frowned and glowered at them.

After they showed up, Lee and Gaara walked out from the back and Temari cooed over how handsome Gaara looked and took about 200 pictures, most of which had Gaara cross armed and glaring at her. She didn't mind.

Ino grabbed Gaara and they secluded themselves on a couch and looked to be in deep discussion and Naruto and Sasuke talked to Lee.

"What's going on man? You look exhausted." Naruto noted and Lee sighed.

"So much emotion today, Naruto. I do not believe I can handle more." He admitted and over with Ino and Gaara, Ino noticed how Gaara blanched.

"What?" She asked and Gaara smacked himself in the head. "What!?"

"I forgot I invited Sakura." He mumbled and Ino's eyes grew comically wide.

"You what!?" She harshly whispered and Gaara looked at Ino and closed his eyes. He felt a headache coming on. "Why would you invite billiard-brow?"

"Because I wanted to surprise Lee." Gaara responded and Ino watched Lee's face when he noticed Sakura was now here.

"Well honey, you sure the fuck did."

"This dinner is going to be a disaster." Gaara groaned and saw Sakura giggled at Lee's look of shock. She looked pretty, nice and dolled up. She had a nice sweater dress that hugged her curves and her hair was pinned up and she had nice makeup on. Lee turned to face Gaara and Gaara waved at him, mortified.

"Stop friend-zoning yourself. You did this on your own. You didn't need to be nice. I told you to break them up to begin with!" Ino hissed quietly and Gaara scowled at her.

"You think I don't already know that?" To make things worse, the door opened and his father and his uncle walked in. "I'm going to be sick..."

* * *

The good points of the dinner, Gaara made an amazing spread with the help of Ino and Lee. All the food was delicious and most likely there wouldn't be leftovers.

The bad points of dinner... There were just so many of them.

Ino was able to sit next to Gaara but before Lee could sit on the other end, his dad sat down with Kakashi on the other side, both of them trying to act like it wasn't completely because Rasa was there, and failing. So Gaara got to see Lee sit next to Sakura with Sasuke on his other side next to Itachi. Across from them was Naruto and Jiraiya. The table was just a mess of people. There should've been a seating chart but there wasn't. Since Gaara sat at the head of the table, Rasa sat at the other head, almost as a challenge. All Gaara heard was Sakura's voice and even it was Lee's girlfriend, he understood it would be terrible of Lee to break up with her on Thanksgiving after she was invited by Gaara. She would think it was a big setup and be super pissed so now he got to watch Lee be uncomfortable with Sakura acting like everything was fine.

Rasa made dumb comments all throughout dinner that weren't necessarily nice. Temari kicked him under the table several times but he didn't seem to care. Somehow Sasuke was outed as being gay, no one really knew how that conversation started but Sasuke stormed off, Naruto stumbling behind him calling out to him trying to cheer him up. The comments Jiraiya made, were hysterical, inappropriate, and Itachi and him got into an argument.

Rasa actually insulted Lee on something and Lee's face turned red and he went to stand up from himself and that turned into Rasa vs. Kakashi and Guy. Temari hid her face and wished she was anywhere but there. Ino was eating but watching intently. Gaara was fairly certain he descended into a deeper part of hell.

"Do you want to get out of here?" Ino whispered and Gaara nodded vigorously.

* * *

Ino, Gaara, Lee and Sakura snuck out to the kitchen. They all sat on the lower part of the tables and Gaara held his head and rubbed his temples.

"You okay, Gaara?" Sakura's voice asked softly and Gaara sighed.

"Sorry about my father, guys." He said and Lee frowned at him.

"Rasa? No that is not your father. He is nothing. Do not feel badly for the things that he said. He means nothing to any of us, okay? You live with me, Gaara. Kakashi and Guy are your fathers now, okay?" Gaara nodded and Lee hugged him.

Sakura and Ino shared a look and Sakura wondered exactly what she missed.


	22. Chapter 22

That night, Ino slept over and Lee felt so empty. Gaara was reasonably upset, but he seemed to distance himself from Lee the most. Lee wanted to be the one Gaara went to. Not tonight. For a while Gaara and Ino were on the couch just talking and when Lee walked in, they stopped talking to stare at him.

"Just saying goodnight." Lee forced a smile.

"Oh. Goodnight, Lee." Gaara said without emotion.

"Would you like me to do anything for you before I go to bed?" Lee asked and Gaara shook his head.

"No thank you, Lee."

So Lee went to his room and stared at his ceiling with emotions just swirling around his mind. Sakura called him to talk for a while. He wondered if she knew Ino was over and wanted to check on him. If she did, she didn't mention it. She did have some interesting questions though.

"Hey Lee, is Gaara okay?" Lee was surprised by the amount of concern in her voice. "I mean his dad was really shitty tonight and I was just wondering if he's doing alright."

"I am unsure. I do not think so but he does not wish to talk to me right now. He is with Ino." Sakura stayed quiet for a minute.

"How did those two become friends, anyway? I mean, Ino and I used to be friends when we were younger and I can't imagine her being friends with someone like Gaara." Lee frowned.

"Why not? Gaara is an amazing person-"

"Lee I'm not insulting Gaara. I'm just saying from what I know of Ino, and the little I know of Gaara, I can't imagine they'd have common ground to speak on. Haven't you ever wondered what they talk about?" Lee had to admit that he did.

"Last time I heard them talking, they were arguing over when to put milk in cereal so I am sure they do not run out of dumb things to say." Lee said with a fond smile. "I also hear them watching scary movies a lot. Ino gets scared and Gaara laughs at her."

"...Hey Lee, I have a question."

"Yes, blossom?" There was a stifled giggle from the other line.

"Okay, I don't want you to think I'm being rude or anything, this is just curiosity. I know it's none of my business, but... is Gaara gay?" Lee doesn't know why he told Sakura, it just came out.

"No, he's demisexual. Ino calls him gay though and he doesn't care." Lee smacked himself in the face for providing all of the information Sakura shouldn't have. As far as Lee knew, Lee was the only one Gaara told. He didn't even tell Ino.

"Oh. That's interesting. I wonder how he figured that out." But like word vomit...

"He told me he thought he was asexual but felt attraction to someone he loved and found out that he could feel those emotions that way." Lee said and face-palmed. He didn't know what the hell he was doing. A part of him just wanted to talk about Gaara, but he shouldn't be telling Sakura his personal business.

"Do you know who it was?" Sakura asked and Lee paused. That was a good question. Gaara seemed to like him, yes. But... he found out he was demi because he was intimate with someone he loved. As far as Lee could remember, they weren't intimate. The feeling of dread hit his stomach hard. "Lee?"

"I... I actually do not know." Sakura made a noise.

"Oh Lee, I know he's your best friend but sometimes friends have secrets. I'm sure he'll tell you when he's ready. Anyway, enough about Gaara. How do you think Sasuke is doing now that he was outed at dinner?"

"I know Sasuke will be okay. I am going to call him a bit later. With any luck, me holding off calling him will ensure that he tells Naruto his feelings." Sakura laughed and it was such a nice sound to hear right now.

"Yeah, everyone knew but Naruto. Isn't that silly?" But Lee didn't agree. He couldn't.

* * *

"Sasuke! There you are, man. I've been looking for you for like, ever." Naruto grumbled and sat next to his sulking friend. Sasuke sat on a park bench in the town square. There were only a few street lamps around and Sasuke's face was barely illuminated by the light.

"You weren't supposed to actually find me, idiot." Sasuke snapped and Naruto rolled his eyes.

"Hey buddy, listen. Just because I know you're gay like 100% for sure, doesn't mean anything to me. No idea why you ran off. No one at that table cares. I mean, maybe Rasa because that guys a fuckin' prick. He was so rude all night! And I have NO idea how he insulted that food. Just sayin' I left before dessert to find your sorry ass, Sasuke. Anyway, my original statement, no one cares. I know you probably wanted to do it yourself, but Itachi loves you, pervy old grandpa of mine loves you,... Temari doesn't even know you... Basically the people who know you don't care and the people that don't know you don't give a shit because they don't know you. Is this making sense?"

"Naruto, for the love of Christ, stop rambling." Naruto punched Sasuke's arm.

"Hey, asshole, I'm trying to be a good friend here. You're makin' it kinda difficult with your... personality." Sasuke scoffed.

"Wow, a word that is 5 syllables, how long did it take you to learn that one?" Naruto completely ignored him.

"Hey Sasuke, now that I know for sure you're gay, wanna tell me how you found out? Like did you check me out and were like 'whoa man, Naruto is super hot, I love penis.' Or like, what? I mean, no matter what you say, I will always know the truth, and I just said the truth, so..." Sasuke looked away from Naruto and stared at a tree. Why was Naruto the dumbest person but said things that were true. "Hey, Sasuke, I'm just trying to make you laugh."

"Why?!" Sasuke snapped and Naruto flinched and leaned back on the bench, his expression crestfallen.

"..." He shifted on the bench and sighed. In the softest, most defeated voice he whispered, "I just wanted to make you happy forever cause you're always so sad."

Sasuke froze. The words repeated in his head several times. He couldn't fight the initial response to the words with his eyes tearing up. He continued to stare at the tree in front of him and noticed that Naruto didn't move from his spot.

"...Thank you." Sasuke said quietly and felt Naruto's hand on his back.

"I'm here for you, man. You know I'll always be here." Sasuke wondered how true it was. For now, he didn't question it. He let Naruto rub his back while both of them sat on a park bench in the darkness looking at the sky.

* * *

Ino and Gaara did not sleep at all. Gaara didn't mind, he preferred not sleeping, especially when it wasn't with Lee since he liked cuddling. Now that he thought about it, he was fairly certain he would've been able to cuddle with Ino if he wanted to. She was a very snuggly person. When she wasn't talking and being a bitch like normal.

At around 3 in the morning, Ino, Gaara and Kakashi sat at the kitchen table drinking coffee. None of them said anything, they just sipped on their coffee. That was, until Guy ran down the stairs in one of the ugliest outfits any of them had ever seen, but he was super happy about something so that was good at least.

"Rival!" Kakashi made a hand gesture like 'what do you want from my life' and Guy pulled out a catalogue. "I was up looking at all of the black Friday sales instead of doing anything you asked me to do," Kakashi rolled his eyes but didn't seem surprised, "and I found out that this sporting goods shop is having a wonderful sale and we can buy things for the dojo! Let's go! The store opens at 630, but if we go now we can sit in front of the door and wait for them to open." Everyone stared at him.

"Who the fuck gets up at 3 in the morning to get sporting equipment?" Kakashi's tone just oozed with defeat and Ino bit her lip to stop herself from laughing, wanting to ask the same question. Gaara was used to this so didn't think to question it. "Trust me. We'll be fine if we wait."

"But-but-!" Guy protested and pointed to Gaara and Ino. "They are awake! This means there are people awake for black Friday this early!"

"Guy, if we were going anywhere this early for a black Friday sale, it wouldn't be sports equipment. It would be electronics." Gaara explained and sipped on his coffee.

"There is no reason for us to go now. What did you two want to buy anyway?" Gaara shrugged.

"I assumed I was being dragged along to hold Ino's bags." Ino smiled sweetly at him.

"Oh, honey~!" She cooed. "You know me so well!" Gaara rolled his eyes. "Anyway, I'm totally going for the makeup deals and they don't open their doors for a while. And that's inside the mall so I can't really stand outside the door to them unless we break in." Guy gave her a look.

"No, we aren't breaking in, Guy, damn it, what is wrong with you." Kakashi rubbed his temples and Guy just smiled at him. "We aren't going." Guy continued to smile. "I said we aren't-"

* * *

Guy, Ino, Kakashi, Gaara, and a half asleep Lee were in the car driving to the mall at 3:27am.

"I fucking hate everything." Kakashi grumbled and Guy drove with the biggest grin on his face.

* * *

"Ohhhh! Gaara! You look so cute! My little panda!" Gaara glared at Ino but Lee seemed to have the same expression on his face that she did.

"You are very cute, Gaara!" He agreed and Gaara ripped off the panda sweater.

"I'm not buying a panda sweater. You couldn't pay me to wear that thing. I thought we were here to buy makeup. Why are we in this store?" Ino shrugged.

"There was a huge line. But we can totally go back." So that's how Sakura found Lee, Gaara and Ino. With Ino dragging both boys by their arms to the makeup store.

"Lee?! What are you doing here so early?" Sakura asked and the question of why he was with Ino stayed quiet, for now.

"My dad needed to get here 3 hours before opening to buy dojo equipment. He decided at 3am that I did not need to sleep today and put all of us in the car. Much to everyone's surprise, I am sure, the sports store was completely empty and we did not shockingly have to get here 3 hours before the mall opened. Now, he is buying Christmas decorations and Kakashi is not very happy. I am unsure how we are all fitting in the car to get back." Gaara snorted. "What are you doing here so early?"

"Oh. I'm buying Christmas gifts. It's the best time, after all." Gaara shared a look with Ino.

"Why didn't I think of that?" He mumbled and Ino shrugged.

"I don't know but you can buy me makeup for Christmas if you want." Gaara scoffed and Ino smirked. "Don't be a wiseass. You should be nice to me, I'm your bestie for life. We should get best friend necklaces!" Gaara gave her a warning look and now Ino looked way too excited and Gaara knew he was fucked.

"If you're going to force this on me, can I please recommend that it isn't... awful." Ino smiled sweetly at him.

"Of course you can recommend it. Doesn't mean I'll listen."

"You're a bitch."

"You're an asshole. Now let's go, lover. I'm sure Lee would like time with... his woman." Ino said, eyeing the two. Lee felt shame realizing her jab that Sakura wouldn't understand. Ino linked arms with Gaara and the two walked away, leaving Lee with Sakura alone.

"I seriously don't understand how they're friends, but I guess it works." Sakura was still confused. "Have you heard from Sasuke?"

"Huh?... Oh, yes. I talked to him last night. He is okay. He said he talked to Naruto for a while." Sakura grinned and Lee shook his head. "No. Nothing of the sort." She frowned. "We can only hope he gains the courage soon."

"Why? Naruto isn't going anywhere." Lee nodded but wondered if that was true. "Anyway, wanna come shopping with me? I already bought your gift so don't worry, you won't find it." She winked and he laughed nervously.

* * *

"Guy, for the love of Christ, why the fuck are we at a pine tree lot?" Guy parked the car and turned it off. "Please don't tell me we're buying a tree right now."

"Time to buy our tree!" Lee cheered from the back and opened the door.

"See? Lee is excited." Guy argued and Kakashi sighed and mumbled an 'he's always excited' under his breath. Ino and Gaara exited the car and they were impressed with how many people were actually buying their Christmas tree.

"I've never had a Christmas tree before." Gaara admitted quietly, not realizing he said it out-loud. Ino and Lee looked at each other, then at Gaara. That was a silent vow that they were going to pick the best damned tree in the lot.

Lee helped Ino and Gaara on the truck that would drive them to the fields and laughed watching his dad take so many pictures of the trees and Kakashi and Kakashi was just arguing with him the entire time.

It was a beautiful day outside and Gaara looked up at the blue sky and smiled. If he leaned in a little too close to Lee, no one mentioned it.

In fact, he was pretty sure he saw Ino take a picture.


	23. Chapter 23

Getting a tree turned out to be a lot harder than anyone thought. They were constantly arguing about the kind, the color, the width, the height. That is, until Ino and Lee saw the most perfect tree.

They ran over to it excitedly. It was a nice height, not too tall, the width was perfectly proportioned, it almost looked drawn with how nice it was. The color was a lighter green and the pines weren't as prickly. It was the one!

Lee turned around excitedly to look for Gaara, only to discover he wasn't behind them. Lee gave Ino a confused look and she shrugged. They sprinted back the way they came, looking for Gaara but couldn't find him.

"Damn it! Why does he have to be so short?" Ino muttered and Lee smiled, he loved how short Gaara was, he thought it was cute. "Gaara! Damn, I really hope no one else gets the tree!"

Finally, they found Gaara. He looked to be lost, considering he was surrounded by the trees that... didn't have the easiest time growing. They were under 2 feet, lopsided, some of them didn't have that many branches. They were, in nice terms, hideous. Lee's step faltered when he saw Gaara staring at them with a look of concentration.

"Gaara! There you are. We found the perfect tree." Ino exclaimed happily and Gaara looked up and tilted his head.

"So have I." He said simply and Lee and Ino looked around trying to find a tree that beat theirs.

"Where?" Ino asked after a minute and Gaara walked through the stunted trees and knelt down next to one. This one wasn't the most hideous one, but it also wasn't a very nice looking tree either. It was lopsided, but it had a nice green color. There was a patch of branches missing so there was a large gap and it was probably a foot tall.

"I want this one." Ino smiled at him.

"Um, Gaara, that one is kind of small, don't you think?" Gaara looked up at her confused.

"I don't know, I've never celebrated Christmas. I assumed we were to find the tree that spoke to them the most and I am looking at this one and this is the one that calls out to me. It's small, unlikely to be picked by another family, it isn't perfect and I don't believe it's healthy enough to survive into next year. I want this tree. It reminds me of me. I want us to have Christmas together." Gaara explained calmly and Ino heard a choking noise and turned her head to see Lee sobbing.

"That is so beautiful Gaara! Of course we will buy this tree!" Lee embraced Gaara in a tight hug and Gaara looked at him oddly, not understanding the weight of his words on Lee.

"Hey kids! What have you found?" Guy asked and Lee turned to him and wiped the tears off his face.

"We pick this one." Lee announced while sniffling.

"Um... I don't believe that will fit all of Guy's decorations. Why don't we have two trees this year?" Lee agreed and turned to look at Gaara and saw that his saw was abandoned on the side and Gaara was using his hands to dig the tree out of the ground.

"What are you doing?" Ino asked and Gaara looked up.

"I don't want to cut him." He said innocently and Lee started crying again and helped Gaara dig the tree out from the ground. Guy and Kakashi looked at each other and shook their heads.

* * *

Lee and Gaara were setting up the tiny tree in Gaara's bedroom. It barely took up any space. Ino, who has had plenty of plant experience being how her family owned a plant nursery, took it upon herself to get a nice pot and soil for Gaara's new tree on their way home.

"Would you like some decorations for your tree?" Gaara stared at it and shook his head.

"No. Not yours, anyway. Nothing against you I would just like to have my tree have ornaments that mean something to me. We can decorate the one downstairs thought if you want." Lee nodded and thought of all the decorations they could make together for Gaara's tree.

Getting downstairs was a problem with all of the boxes of Christmas decorations. When they finally made it to the living room, it looked like Santa Claus vomited violently all over and everyone was impressed Guy managed to do all of this in 15 minutes. Kakashi sat on the couch with his arms crossed while Christmas music blared from the radio near Guy.

"What the hell is this?" Gaara asked quietly, as he'd never seen someone with that much Christmas spirit.

"This is hell. The deepest ring of it." Kakashi murmured and started reading his book trying to drown out the sounds of Christmas, considering it's not even December yet.

Guy made them help hang tinsel and Christmas lights around the house. He even through a small box at Ino and she opened it, scoffed, passed it to Gaara with a wink and grabbed a different box and walked away. Gaara opened it and tilted his head to the side but in neat writing on the lid of the box it said "hang in doorways" so Gaara walked to a doorway and looked up. He couldn't reach. He frowned.

"Lee. I need your help." For some strange reason he heard Ino laughing at his request, she was probably teasing him for being short. Lee was at his side in seconds with a smile.

"Of course, Gaara. What do you need?" Gaara held up the box and Lee turned pink but smiled anyway. "Oh! Um, yes, I'll help." Lee was pretty amazed at Gaara being so forward! Lee picked up the first piece of mistletoe and hung it up in the center of the doorframe and cupped Gaara's face and kissed him softly. "Anything else?" Gaara looked a bit startled at the random kiss and his cheeks heated up. Well that was random. Gaara looked back down at the box and there were 5 more pieces.

"There's still more." Gaara noted quietly. He wasn't sure why Lee would only help him with one and not the rest. Lee grinned and nodded.

"So there is. Would you like help with these ones too?" He asked and Gaara nodded, looking confused.

"Of course, why wouldn't I?" Seriously, did Lee think he was going to grow from doorframe to doorframe?

Lee followed Gaara around and Gaara picked the doorways that would have the mistletoe in them and Lee would pin them up and kiss Gaara each time. Gaara was getting more and more confused but he didn't think it was a bad thing. He liked when Lee kissed him. But why was he kissing him so much with Guy and Kakashi around?

When they were done, Lee gave him one more kiss, a bright smile on his face and walked away. Ino quickly made her way to Gaara's side and Gaara looked at her lost in thought.

"He kissed me." Gaara stated quietly and Ino raised an eyebrow.

"Well, yeah." Gaara seemed more lost at that statement.

"He kissed me 6 times." Gaara continued and Ino looked around and counted the mistletoe.

"Well, there is 6 pieces..." A thought suddenly came to Gaara.

"Wait. He kissed me because of the tiny plant?" Gaara asked and Ino stared at him for a second before breaking out into laughter. "What? What is so funny?"

"Gaara you're so cute though!" Gaara glared at her and she held her stomach, laughing. "It's a Christmas tradition, you silly! I thought you knew that! I thought you were just being super forward, like 'come on Lee, I have mistletoe, let's make out' or something. Oh that is too cute." Gaara's face heated up. If that's what Ino thought, it was probably also what Lee thought. How embarrassing.

* * *

The last thing to be decorated was the tree. Guy had strung lights on the tree already and all that was left was the candy canes and the decorations. Lee was putting the gaudy looking red bulbs on the tree that were honestly so hideous and Gaara was happy he decided to purchase his own decorations. Next came a different color bulb, silver. The tree looked so depressing with just red on it. The silver brightened it up. Guy put a box down between Lee and Gaara and when Gaara opened it he saw a bunch of really cheesy made decorations. One was a reindeer made from popsicle sticks. There was a handprint one turned into another reindeer, they were all really cute. When Gaara looked on the back he saw Lee's name written on them and a year.

"I made these in school." Lee explained as they hung them. There was a small one, shape of Santa, but the center was a picture of a 4 year old Lee on Santa's lap rocking a braid. Gaara smiled.

"You are very cute, Lee." Gaara commented and hung the picture up towards the top of the tree.

"So are you, Gaara." Lee said with a grin and Ino rolled her eyes.

Each piece from this box had a story behind it and Gaara fell in love with each decoration. But then, he picked up another one. It was a clothes pin painted white and made into a snowman. There was something familiar about it. And Gaara stared at it for a while before the memory came to him. He remembered making something similar in school when he was younger. He remembered giving it to his father and his father snapped it in half and walked away.

Gaara held the clothes pin tightly in his hand and he held it for so long that Lee noticed he stopped decorating the tree. He looked at Gaara and he saw the look of resignation.

"What is wrong?" Lee asked and Gaara frowned deeper.

"I have had a Christmas before. I didn't realize. I didn't remember until now. Do you mind if I take this decoration for my tree?" Lee said it was fine and Gaara was already out of the room and up the stairs. Lee turned to look at Guy and Kakashi who seemed concerned and Ino was staring up where Gaara left from.

"I'll go talk to him." Ino insisted and Lee grabbed her hand before she left.

"I will go too." She frowned but didn't say anything and they walked to Gaara's room.

His door was opened, he sat on the floor hugging his knees, staring at the tiny tree with the single decoration. They couldn't see his expression but Lee could guess it wasn't a happy one.

"Hi honey." Ino said softly and walked into the room and sat next to him, looking at the tree. "Would you like to talk about it?" Lee sat on Gaara's other side.

"I made decorations like this, I remember them. I never knew what they were for, we were just told give them to our parents. One year I made one like this. I gave it to my father and he broke it in front of me and threw it out. I heard him call someone on the phone. It was my school. He yelled at them for allowing me to waste my time with making it and told them to never do that again. I wasn't allowed to go to art anymore after that." Gaara stayed quiet and Ino hugged him.

"I'm so sorry honey." Ino said soothingly and rubbed his back. Gaara didn't seem like he heard the comment, he just looked at his tree with a pensive expression.

"What was Christmas like at your house?" Lee couldn't help but ask and Gaara shrugged. "You don't know?"

"Oh, I wasn't allowed in the house." He said simply.

"What... what do you mean? Where did you sleep?" Ino asked with more emotion in it than she intended.

"I slept in a shed outside. It wasn't bad, we lived in the desert so for the most part it was hot, but at nighttime it was cold. I was given a blanket and a pillow though." The way Gaara spoke indicated he had no idea how wrong it was for that to have happened. "I wasn't allowed to take showers often, only when my dad was out of the house. My sister would sneak me in and wash me. No one really talked to me in school since I smelled bad a lot."

"B-but... why did he do that?" Lee asked with his lower lip trembling.

"I killed my mom." Gaara said emotionlessly. "She died giving birth to me. My dad and my uncle were upset I didn't die instead of her so they just treated me like I didn't matter. I hope it made them feel better." Lee tackled Gaara in a hug on the floor and Ino joined the cuddle session.

"I will make sure you will never be treated that way ever again, I hope you know that, Gaara." Lee vowed and Ino covered his face with kisses.

"You guys don't have to do this. I got over all of it a while ago. It was just a memory that was brought up when I picked this up." He pointed to the ornament.

"If it reminds you of that, why would you like to keep it?" Ino asked, confused.

"To remind myself that even thought mine went unappreciated, there was a child out there that their parents treasured it, like Lee's. I'd like to think I suffered so another kid didn't have to. That's what I told myself, anyway. I'm done thinking about my father, can we do something else?" They immediately complied.

* * *

"I'm sleeping over. This time, we're sleeping. Got it, Gaara?" Gaara rolled his eyes. "Stop! It was an emotional day and I'm not leaving you."

"It wasn't emotional. I didn't get emotional once." Gaara admitted with a resigned sigh.

"But if you sleep over, I will not be able to keep an eye on Gaara..." Lee protested quietly with a frown.

"Suck it." Ino said simply and Gaara looked at them both.

"I have a twin bed, Ino. How do you plan on sleeping with me?" He asked and Ino hugged him and stuck her tongue out at Lee.

"With a LOT of cuddling." Lee flushed, whether it be from anger or embarrassment, Gaara didn't know.

"That is unfair." Lee crossed his arms and Gaara sighed again. These two were so annoying together.

"Let's just sleep in Lee's bed." Gaara decided and walked up the stairs. Ino had the grace to blush and Lee looked embarrassed but he wasn't going to complain about Gaara sleeping in his bed. He just really hoped Sakura didn't show up to see Ino and Gaara in his bed. He would have a lot of explaining, otherwise.

Gaara dressed in Lee's pajamas and Lee smiled warmly at him. Ino put on Gaara's pajamas and rolled her eyes at Lee. They all climbed in the bed, Lee at the wall, Gaara in the middle and Ino on the outside.

"Gaara is my snuggle buddy tonight." Ino said easily and Lee's eyes narrowed, as if saying "I'd like to see you try."


	24. Chapter 24

"Hey, Sasuke." Sasuke turned around to face Lee. "Is your brother still doing piano lessons?"

"Yeah, why?" Sasuke asked with a surprisingly passive face for the topic of his brother.

"A while back Gaara mentioned he always wanted to learn the piano so I wanted to get him lessons for Christmas." Sasuke nodded and unzipped the front pocket of his bookbag. He handed Lee a business card.

"Yeah he does it out of the estate instead of the studio. He's trying to get a room renovated there though to be a studio." Lee nodded his thanks and read the card, but once he saw the familiar mop of red hair, he pocketed the card. "What are you going to get Sakura?"

"Um... what?" Sasuke rolled his eyes realizing Lee wasn't paying attention. "Sakura. Your girlfriend. What are you getting her?"

"Oh... I... I am unsure." Lee blushed and scratched the back of his head. Picking something for Gaara was insanely easy, Sakura on the other hand... unfortunately he didn't have the insight on Sakura as he had with Gaara.

"You know, Gaara isn't going to wait forever." Sasuke muttered and closed his locker. "Someone is bound to steal him away from right under your nose."

"Why?" Lee asked, eyebrow raised. "Are you interested?" Sasuke blushed and shook his head.

"No! He isn't my type." Lee grinned. "Don't even say it."

"You are right. He is not your type." Lee teased. "Your type is more blonde."

"Lee, you're an-"

"Hey guys! What did I miss?" Naruto asked loudly and Sasuke winced at the loudness of his voice.

"Jesus, Naruto. Can you learn to be quiet for 3 goddamn seconds?" Sasuke growled and Naruto smacked Sasuke's books to the floor.

"Fuck you, Uchiha. I'll be as loud an annoying as I want!" Lee watched the two bicker and shook his head. He wondered how much they had to fight before they eventually started to date.

* * *

Gaara sat in the back of the café looking around the kitchen. There was so much to do but no part of him wanted to do anything. It was difficult to inspire himself to do anything right now. Gaara was still depressed, he could feel it in his heart. Nothing seemed to help, especially today. It was harder today. He saw Lee and Sakura a lot walking through the hallway. They weren't even acting like a couple, just the fact that they were together was enough to trigger Gaara's bad mood. Gaara wanted a friend. Not Lee, he couldn't talk to Lee about Lee, not Ino, Gaara could literally murder someone and Ino would take his side (not really a bad thing if Gaara wasn't looking for someone to put things in perspective for him) and he couldn't talk to Kakashi or Guy since they were Lee's parents. What to do?

Gaara was tired, he walked out of the kitchen and stood up front next to Shikamaru. He was sitting on a stool (which when Temari was around, was a strict no-no) playing on his phone. Gaara really didn't care. He started making himself a drink and Shikamaru glanced up noticing the sour look on Gaara's face.

"You miss Ino or something?" He asked flatly and Gaara shook his head but before Shikamaru could question him, Itachi walked in.

Gaara had seen Itachi quite a few times. There was something interesting about him. He was tall, handsome and oddly plain. His dark hair and dark eyes were nothing to brag about, in fact the combination reminded him of Lee which made his heart hurt.

"What's up, Itachi? How ya doin?" Shikamaru asked, still not moving from his seat.

"I can't complain too much." Itachi shrugged and leaned on the counter and looked at Gaara and gave him a smile.

"Hello. I know I've seen you before, I'm Sasuke's older brother." Itachi held out his hand and Gaara shook it, something about Itachi was calming. Maybe it was his tone, his relaxed posture, his calm personality. Gaara didn't know, but suddenly he didn't remember feeling so depressed anymore. He was calm.

"I'm Gaara." Gaara introduced and Itachi smiled softly again.

"It is nice to formally meet you, Gaara." By this point, Shikamaru had already made Itachi's drink, picked up a blueberry muffin and placed it on the counter. Itachi dropped the money on the counter so Shikamaru could get to it when he was able to and looked at the muffin.

"You're the baker here, correct?" Gaara nodded mutely. "You're great at what you do. I love the muffins you make. The raw sugar on top is a nice touch. Perfect for my sweet tooth. I hope you enjoy making them as much as I love to eat them." Gaara doesn't know why he was so awkward around Itachi, nor did he know why he lied, but he tried his best to smile at Itachi and said,

"Oh, making muffins is my favorite."

* * *

"Guy..." Kakashi's voice was a low warning as he stared at the table that had a huge bouquet of flowers.

"Yes, Rival~?" Guy yelled from a different room.

"You bought me flowers? You know I hate flowers..." Guy walked into the room and gave Kakashi a kiss on the cheek.

"Yes but I bought you winter roses and you hate those the least!" He grinned and Kakashi bit his inner cheek to stop himself from smiling, not wanting to lose the resolve he had on his face. "Aw, come on, you can smile~!"

"No, shut up." Kakashi pushed Guy away and turned his head so he couldn't see the smile he had on his face.

"Are you smiling~?" Guy practically giggled and kept pulling Kakashi closer and was met with a half-hearted fight. Kakashi kept shoving his arms away but Guy was laughing too much. "Aw, rival, do you like me~?"

"Nooo. You're annoying leave me alone." Kakashi protested and Guy finally was able to get Kakashi to look him in the eyes. Kakashi saw the big grin on Guy's face and it only grew when he saw the smile on Kakashi's face and the pinkness of his cheeks. "I think you do like me~" Guy hugged Kakashi tightly.

"Shut up, we're married. Of course I don't like you." Kakashi said dryly and Guy pushed him to the couch and snuggled up with him.

"You ~love~ me." Kakashi rolled his eyes and let his head rest on Guy's shoulders.

"Thank you for the flowers. I hate them." Guy smiled and kissed Kakashi's cheek.

"Thank you for you. I love you." Kakashi tried really hard to keep himself from smiling, Guy would give him that.

* * *

"Your friend Gaara is nice." Itachi mentioned as he put down his bag in the living room while Sasuke sat on the couch. "He gave me this for you." He threw a pastry bag at Sasuke and Sasuke ripped it opened.

"We aren't really close friends, but yeah he's nice." Itachi sat down on the couch and stared at Sasuke. "What?"

"He's cute too." Sasuke's face turned bright red.

"What?! No!" Itachi chuckled and ate his muffin.

"What? He is. Adorable, really. Calm, can cook very well. He has family issues, but we all do..." Sasuke shook his head.

"No. I can't date Gaara. End of story." Itachi raised his eyebrow.

"Why not? Is he dating someone?" He asked and Sasuke opened his mouth, then shut it again. "What am I missing?"

"He isn't... dating anyone. But everyone knows him and Lee like each other." Sasuke said with an eye roll.

"... Isn't Lee dating Sakura though?" Sasuke nodded. "Then why should it matter? If he liked Gaara enough he would be dating him." Sasuke sighed.

"You don't have to stress that point to me. I know already. We've been trying to break up Sakura and Lee for over a month." Itachi shrugged.

"Seems weird to me, but okay... Oh, and Sasuke?" Sasuke looked up from eating his own muffin. "You never said you didn't think Gaara was cute." Itachi's grin was wide and Sasuke's face burned. Sasuke threw his shoe at a laughing Itachi.

* * *

Gaara woke up early the next morning. Sadly, he was in his own bed. Lee got home late last night and so did he so neither of them had time to talk.

Gaara put on a pair of longjohns and then a pair of gray sweatpants over. It was freezing outside! He pulled on a black turtleneck and a pair of thick socks. He walked to Lee's room and knocked on the door. Lee opened it, half dressed and bright eyed.

"Oh wonderful! Are you coming to the dojo with me?" He asked with the sweetest smile. Gaara nodded and his smile grew. "I am very happy to hear that. Would you like a sweater? I think you will be cold in just your turtleneck." Lee offered and was already getting a sweater from the closet. Gaara put it on with a soft thank you.

Lee watched Gaara put on the sweater. That was his dojo issued sweater. It had the dojo logo on the front and his name on the back. They were very popular during the wintertime. He had that sweater for a few years. It fit Gaara nicely.

"You look very cute, Gaara." Lee said happily, turning to find a shirt.

"Lee..." Gaara started and Lee stopped what he was doing and looked at Gaara.

"Are you okay?" His voice and face oozed concern and Gaara wondered how a person could be so genuine. "Would you like me to do anything?" Gaara had so many things he wanted to say but couldn't find the words. He just stared at Lee, his mouth opened a fraction and his face becoming more and more red. Lee stepped to him and stood close, cupping his cheek. "Do you need to talk?"

Gaara frowned and his brow furrowed together. He felt as though he knew what he wanted to say, but he honestly didn't know how to say it. The closer Lee stood to him, the more complicated the thinking process became. Gaara decided thinking wasn't working so turned off his brain long enough to throw his arms around Lee's neck and pull him close. Their noses touched and Lee's cheeks turned pink.

"Would you like a kiss, Gaara?" Lee asked breathily against Gaara's lips. Gaara gave a tentative nod, his body was shaking. He shouldn't be doing this. He shouldn't be doing this.

Lee's lips touched his own and his brain stopped working again. He couldn't think of how kissing Lee was a bad idea in any way. Just having Lee in front of him with his lips touching Gaara's was enough to stop all reasonable thinking.

Gaara's hands let go of Lee's neck and he lazily ran them down Lee's torso. Lee made a shuttering moan against Gaara's lips and pushed him against the wall and held Gaara in place by putting his hands on his hips.

"Lee." The sharp inhale of his name falling from Gaara's lips made Lee whimper. Lee wasn't sure how wound up Gaara would be able to make him in under 30 seconds, but Gaara surprised even him sometimes. Lee pushed himself away, breathing heavily. He looked at Gaara, lips wet with saliva, cheeks pink, eyes hazed over with a lustful look. It was almost déjà vu. He felt like he saw that exact look on Gaara before but didn't remember when.

"I-I am sorry. I got... carried away." Lee said, clearly embarrassed. He was shifting a lot on his feet, feeling his body react to Gaara in every way possible. Gaara swallowed up all of his nervousness and took a step closer to Lee and looked at him dead in the eyes.

"Happy Birthday, Lee." He whispered and Lee stared at him with half lidded eyes and before they knew it, they were kissing again.

Gaara bit Lee's lower lip and Lee made a noise of surprise and Gaara slid his tongue into Lee's mouth. Gaara read this was a popular method of kissing, and wasn't sure why. It just felt... wet. He had to admit, the thought of kissing Lee in such a lewd way did have some effect on him. Gaara didn't expect the feeling of Lee biting his own lip and he gasped and it turned into a shuttering moan. The noise left Lee whining against his lips.

"I-I do not know... What I will do if we do not stop... but we better stop." Lee was trembling and Gaara nodded and gave him one last tiny kiss.

* * *

At the beginning of Lee's training, he explained to Gaara what each warm up or exercise was for, but towards the end he was just doing so many of one thing it wasn't worth explaining. On a good note, while Gaara thought burpees were the devil, Lee looked damn good doing them.

Early on, Lee asked if Gaara wanted to go through some warm ups with him but Gaara declined. Now that he saw the entire routine, he was glad he did. With all those squats, Gaara wasn't surprised Lee had such a nice butt, still it seemed like a lot and Gaara didn't believe he would be alive at the end. Lee was also very adamant about his training so Gaara didn't think he would take it easy on him. Gaara didn't think that was a bad thing though and thought about how Lee would be as his trainer.

* * *

Driving to school was nice. The car was super warm, Lee had music on playing quiet enough that it didn't distract him from his thoughts but loud enough that he could tell something was playing and it wasn't white noise.

It was raining outside, which sucked because Gaara was under the impression that in December it snowed all the time. Gaara never saw snow, living in the desert and all.

It was such cuddle weather that Gaara was sad he had school that day. Lee wasn't in any of his classes. He had Naruto in one single class and Ino in one class. His days at school sucked. Especially because all he did was see Lee and Sakura in the hallway.

Gaara began overthinking everything while he stared at Lee from his peripherals. With Lee kissing him like that... did he kiss Sakura like that? Did he lose control when Sakura asked for a kiss? Did he lust after her? The questions made Gaara's heart thud angrily in his chest. Why was Lee still with Sakura? Why did Lee kiss him when he was with Sakura? What was the best way to approach the situation?

"Gaara, are you alright?" Damn, Lee's voice was always so sweet and calming it was hard to imagine he'd done anything wrong.

"Just thinking of what I got for your birthday." Gaara lied simply and Lee grinned at him.

"You did not have to get me anything. Being with you is enough." He admitted and Gaara was really bitter and wanted to mumble an 'but you aren't with me, are you?' but it was Lee's birthday and he didn't want him to feel bad on his birthday.

Instead, Gaara let Lee hold his hand through the car ride to school.

* * *

Lee was showered in gifts when his friends showed up. Sakura gave him a present, Naruto, Sasuke, even people Gaara didn't know. He didn't realize Lee had more than 4 friends.

Gaara was right next to Lee when Sakura hugged him tightly and with her flirtiest face said 'you should come over after school.' The sight made him sick. He turned around and faced Sasuke and honestly, Sasuke was looking at him weird today. He didn't know why or how. It was just different. He decided to talk to Sasuke because anything was better than watching this display in front of him.

"Kakashi, Guy and I were planning on throwing Lee a small party later with cake and gifts. Would you like to come?" Sasuke nodded, always wanting to go wherever Gaara made food.

"Just cake, or regular food too? Asking for a friend." Gaara smirked at him.

"I will be cooking dinner too." Sasuke tried his best not to look excited. "You can invite your brother too if you'd like." Gaara shouldn't have been that excited at the prospect of Itachi coming over but he was.

* * *

Lee said he was going to spend some time with Sakura after school but he would be back around 5pm which was fine, it gave Gaara time to cook and get everything ready.

He was at the café putting the finishing touches on the cake. It was a two tiered cake with a fondant black belt wrapped around the middle with Happy Birthday Lee written on top with a tiny fondant Lee doing a kick. The sides of the bigger half of the cake were tiny painted martial arts poses. Gaara spent most of his day yesterday making this cake. It was stressful but finally, it was perfect.

Ino volunteered to help him bring it to the house which was good because she had a big car so he was able to sit in the back with it to make sure it didn't fall over. He realized now he should've assembled the two layers when he got to the house but whatever.

Kakashi and Guy fawned over the cake and how beautiful it was. Guy took several hundred pictures after Gaara put it down on the table and Kakashi insisted Gaara took a picture next to the cake. Even though it was embarrassing, Gaara felt nice having them make a big deal over something he did. No one praised him like Kakashi and Guy.

After that, Gaara began cooking. It was going to be rough cooking for that many people in such a limited time, but Gaara didn't mind, he liked being in the kitchen. Most people thought if someone could bake they couldn't cook and vice versa. While it was true that both of the arts required different uses in the brain, it was still enjoyable for multiple people. Baking was more of a science and Culinary was more of an art.

Naruto showed up first, apologizing for Jiraiya's lack of appearance but he had a deadline to reach. He sent a gift in his wake. Kakashi decided it was best if he opened it first, just because Lee was turning 18 didn't mean he should get presents from Jiraiya. Kakashi could shudder at the thought of what it could be.

Sasuke and Itachi were next to show up and Itachi complimented Gaara's cake and Gaara smiled at him.

"You have a nice smile. You should smile more, Gaara." He noted and Gaara shook his head, looking away embarrassed. Right now, most of everyone was in the living room and it was just Gaara and Itachi in the kitchen. The table was set up for everyone already and Kakashi didn't want to get in Gaara's way and he dragged out Guy because Guy was more likely to get in Gaara's way. Itachi though, could tell where Gaara needed to go so stealthily moved when he noticed Gaara needed him to.

"Why are you making two things?" Itachi asked and Gaara smiled at him again.

"Lee likes things way too spicy so I didn't want to kill everyone else. I decided to make Lee a smaller pot of what I was making and add more spice." He admitted and Itachi was intrigued.

"Would you mind if I tried it?" Gaara smirked at the question, Itachi clearly didn't know how spicy Lee liked his food but provided Itachi with a spoon all the same. Itachi noticed the devious smirk on Gaara's face and was a little apprehensive, but a 16 year old wasn't going to stop him from trying food.

It should've.

Itachi's face turned bright red instantly and Gaara already had a glass of milk prepared. Itachi downed the whole thing and he was still crying.

"I told you. Lee is insane." Gaara said with a chuckle and Itachi was laughing and crying at the same time.

"Wow. Oh shit this is still burning." Gaara handed him a napkin and Itachi wasn't sure if he should wipe his tongue with it or his tears. Gaara couldn't help but laugh at the sight. Itachi, a 25 year old man, sitting on the kitchen floor crying and wiping his tongue with a napkin. It was so pitiful. Gaara didn't think he ever laughed that hard.

That's how Kakashi and Sasuke found the two, a few minutes later. Itachi on the floor crying into a napkin and Gaara laughing so hard he had tears on his cheeks.

"What the fuck." It wasn't a question, it was a statement.

"Sasuke, watch your language." Kakashi scolded, then looked back at the display. "What the fuck."

"He... tried... Lee's..." Gaara was completely red in the face and it was hard to breathe but Kakashi got the gist of it and laughed at Itachi's expense. It took a minute for Sasuke, but once he looked at the stove, he remembered when Lee told him Gaara made their dinners separately so that he could have his food spicy.

Poor Itachi.

* * *

Gaara and Itachi sat outside in the cold air after Gaara stopped laughing, which took a while. Itachi was overheating from the spice and Gaara was overheating from standing in such a small kitchen with everything going on around them.

"You shouldn't laugh at your elders like that, you know." Itachi mumbled a few minutes later and gave a fake glare to Gaara who lazily smiled at him. He was honestly so tired from waking up early, he had no sense of anything right now.

"You're not even 30 yet, right?" Itachi raised his eyebrow.

"So 30 is your old people cut off? Good to know. I'll keep that in mind." Gaara rolled his eyes. "I'm 25 if you wanted to know." Gaara nodded again.

"What is it like being 25 and an adult?" Itachi sighed and laid back on his chair.

"Same thing it was like being 16, only you try to pretend you know what you're doing and you have better skin." Gaara snorted. "Unless being 16 changed since I was 16."

"I'm almost 17 so I don't know." Itachi scoffed.

"Yeah I'm sorry I offended you. You're so mature." Gaara glared at Itachi but there was no heat to it. "Let me say one thing though, I could not even bake a boxed cake at 16 so you making that cake for Lee was really impressive. You really do know what you're doing. Do you know if that's what you want to go to school for?"

"No. Why would I want to go to school for something I can already do? Anyway, I don't think I'm going to college." Itachi sat up a bit.

"Why not?" Gaara shrugged.

"No money. Plus, I already have a job. I can just stay there and work and get money so I can live instead of wasting it on school that I might not even need. Especially if I stay with baking. There's a lot of debt for culinary and only few places to make it worth your while. I don't want to go to the city so therefore I am not making a lot of money." Itachi was impressed by Gaara's insight. "Anyway, I have to go check on the food and make sure no other brave soul tried Lee's food."

"I'll come with you."

* * *

Dinner had been done for an hour and Lee still wasn't home. It was 625 and Lee said he'd be home at the latest of 515. Kakashi called him more times than he could count, and Guy was very upset at his son's discourtesy of not even answering the damn phone.

Gaara just served dinner so no one went hungry and when they were done, Gaara did all the dishes quietly. He was angry. He was embarrassed (even though he wasn't sure what about), and he was hurt. What was more important than coming back to the person you said you were in love with? Gaara sent a few text messages but they all remained unseen. Angry and sad tears stung his eyes and he jumped when he saw Itachi leaning on the counter next to him.

"Boys are dumb." Itachi said and Gaara just nodded meekly. "Don't put anyone first that doesn't put you first. You have to be the example of how you want to be treated." Gaara looked at Itachi confused but Itachi's face remained the same. "I'm saying no boy is worth getting upset over. You'll find someone who puts you first. Give it time." He patted Gaara's back and left the kitchen. Ino walked over shortly after.

"Did Sasuke's super hot brother just hit on you?" She asked, trying to bring Gaara out of his funk of being abandoned.

"No." He said flatly and Ino frowned and eyed Itachi.

"But do you agree?" She asked and Gaara glared at her.

"Agree with what?" She smirked at him.

"That he's super hot?" Gaara's face heated up and he rolled his eyes.

"He is handsome." Hot would imply that Gaara wanted to sleep with him and he doesn't. That's something Ino didn't know yet, that Gaara wasn't gay. He didn't feel like explaining demisexuality to her just yet.

"I know right?" She gushed and looked at him again.

"Ino, he's 25, he isn't going to date an 18 year old." Ino stuck out her tongue.

"I can dream, don't ruin it." Gaara rolled his eyes and Ino turned her attention back to Gaara. "Hey, I'm just trying to make you laugh. I'm super pissed at Lee. Do you want me to punch him in the face? I will, honey. Just give me the word."

"I know you will..." Gaara said with a slight note of resignation in his voice.

"Let me do the dishes, you should relax. You've done so much for him today you need some time for you." Ino insisted and Gaara shook his head.

"No. I'd like to be right in his line of sight when he walks in the door to see his expression when he tells me why he's so late. I asked him when he would be home and I told him I had a surprise for him. He knew all of this and he still didn't show up. Why does that matter to me? It shouldn't. I'm not his boyfriend. Just the guy he makes out with randomly. I don't need any validation. I'm just like a slut. All I'm doing is singlehandedly ruining a relationship." Ino's eyes widened and she turned off the water and turned Gaara around so he was facing her. Her eyes were deadly.

"Don't you dare say that. Just because Lee is too stupid to see you're better than Sakura in every conceivable way doesn't mean that you aren't better than her in every conceivable way. It means Lee is the dumbest fucking person I've ever met. He doesn't deserve you. You're too good for him, honey. Don't let him do this to you. You're not even a slut, shut up you virgin. Have you even seen a penis before? I mean, besides your own?" Gaara turned red but shook his head slowly. "So there you go. And you aren't ruining Lee's relationship on your own. Lee had to have let you in somehow. Don't even think like that. I'm going to kick his ass when he gets him, I don't care if he's the birthday boy." Ino ranted and they heard a door slam outside and paused. Gaara rubbed his eyes quickly. Him and Ino were the only ones in the kitchen right now so they were the only ones with direct sight to the front door. They heard slow stomps up the porch steps and they heard the door open.

Kakashi and Guy were in the kitchen right as the door swung opened and everyone stared at Lee.

Only he didn't look right.

His hair was a mess, so were his clothes. His face was bright red, mainly down his cheeks and nose. He looked... destroyed. He had tears running down his face but he didn't make a single sound. He closed the door behind him and took a step into the kitchen, finally realizing he had an audience. He looked around at the lengthened table; he saw the food on the stove, the people in the living room who apparently hadn't heard him come in. He saw the beautiful cake on the counter that must've taken Gaara forever to make. He saw the look of surprise on his parent's faces, the look of confusion on Ino's and finally he looked at Gaara.

He loved Gaara so much it hurt. His body ached thinking about everything that happened today and he felt so much guilt he could barely breathe and there stood Gaara looking just as hurt as he felt and he didn't know what to do.

"Lee... are you..." Kakashi didn't finish the sentence, he saw something in Lee's eyes and understood. He didn't like it, but he understood.

Lee looked at Gaara again. He walked over and stood in front of him for a minute, more tears ran down his face and he gave Gaara a hug. The hug seemed to last forever and at the same time, the shortest hug they ever had. Lee pulled away, giving Gaara one last glance with empty eyes. He walked to the stairs and Gaara heard him softly make it to his bedroom door and heard the door close with a quiet click.

What happened to Lee?


	25. Chapter 25

For the next few days, it was tense in the house. Gaara was rarely home, always at work. Honestly, he was getting away from Lee. Since Lee's birthday, there was no apology. There was barely any words and certainly no explanation. Lee usually tried to kiss Gaara at least once a day, Lee hadn't been near him since his birthday. It hurt.

For the time being, Gaara listened to Itachi's advice and just ignored everything. If Lee didn't want to open up, he wouldn't. Plus, Gaara was still upset with how everything went down and he didn't want to give that up just yet. He had a right to be upset.

Ino promised she would be at the café more since the nursery was shutting down for winter, but right now they had a lot to do so for the most part, Gaara was by himself. He didn't mind, it reminded him of before. Before wasn't so bad, was it?

When Gaara got home that night, December 1st, he was met with the beautiful sight of his home. Kakashi and Guy had spent all day decorating the outside of the house it looked like. Gaara wondered if Lee had helped or not.

He walked inside and everyone was sitting at the table. Lee was sitting in his usual chair against the wall, idly poking his dinner, his somber expression hadn't changed at all. Kakashi and Guy had finished their dinner, now just drinking tea and talking quietly.

"Gaara! Hello! Your dinner is in the microwave." Gaara nodded his thanks and took off his shoes and hung his jacket up on the coatrack. He grabbed his plate and joined them at the table, being made fun of by Kakashi for still wearing his chef jacket.

"It's a lot warmer than not wearing it. It's cold outside." Kakashi noticed how red Gaara's face and fingers were.

"Did you walk home?" Kakashi asked and Gaara nodded slowly. "Why the hell didn't you call one of us?"

"I... didn't want to bother anyone." Gaara looked down at his food, and for the first time in days, saw Lee actually pay him mind.

"You would never bother us, Gaara." He said quietly. Gaara pursed his lips, stood up, picking up his plate and putting it back in the microwave.

"I'm actually not hungry right now. Thank you." Gaara grabbed his bag and quickly went up the stairs leaving Kakashi and Guy frowning and Lee looking guilty again.

"You're going to have to talk to him eventually." Kakashi said and Lee nodded numbly.

* * *

When Gaara walked into his room, he saw lights draped across his ceiling. The lights were designed to look like icicles and they lit up slowly. Placed evenly through the string of lights were envelopes with numbers on them hung with a wooden clothing pin. Gaara looked at everything in wonder, it was beautiful. He turned his head when he felt someone else in the room with him. It was Lee.

"Did you do this?" Gaara asked quietly and Lee nodded. "What is it, exactly."

"It is my rendition of an advent calendar. I do not know how to build very well so I decided this was best. I hope you like it. You are supposed to open the envelope with the day's number. Today you open one, all the way up to 24, Christmas Eve." Lee explained quietly and Gaara slowly walked to number one and lightly yanked it off of the clothing pin. He eyed Lee as he opened the envelope and inside was a piece of paper, a picture and a tiny piece of chocolate. Gaara pulled everything out and he stared at the picture first. It was a picture of him and Lee at the apple orchard the first day they hung out. Lee was grinning and Gaara had a donut in his mouth.

The small note said 'When we spent time together this day, I hoped you would be important in my life. I am glad you are.' Gaara looked back up at Lee. He was smiling, but weakly. Gaara really wished he knew what was wrong with him.

"Thank you, Lee. I didn't know or else I would've done one for you too." Lee shook his head with a wry smile.

"I do not deserve one, but thank you." Lee left Gaara alone in his room and Gaara just stared at each envelope and thought to himself, who else would love him this much?

* * *

At about 12am, Gaara realized he couldn't sleep. He actually realized it a while ago, but it was just now getting annoying. Considering it was a weekend, he should be able to sleep as much as he wanted but he was too upset. He decided he needed Lee.

Gaara climbed out of his bed and walked to Lee's door. He didn't knock, just opened it slowly and was surprised to see Lee sitting up on his bed scrolling on his phone. Lee looked up, startled at the sudden movement and confused to see Gaara.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Lee asked quietly and Gaara walked in, closed the door behind him and walked to Lee's bed.

"Can..." Gaara bit his lip and looked down at his hands as he held onto Lee's bed like a lifeline. "Can we pretend to be ok? I miss you." Lee dropped the phone so quickly and pulled Gaara to his chest.

"Of course, Gaara. I miss you too." Lee started crying almost instantly. "I miss you so much."

"Then why are you ignoring me?" The sound of Gaara's broken voice made Lee hiccup on his tears and he kissed Gaara's hair multiple times.

"I do not deserve you, Gaara. You are too good. You are so perfect and I want you to be happy and I cannot do that and I am sorry." Gaara had so many questions but he was just so tired right now. Emotionally and physically drained.

"Lee, can we pretend its fine? That we don't have any problems?" Lee nodded, but tears were still running down his face. "Then just hold me, ok?" Lee nodded again, his heart aching and he pulled Gaara so close to him.

"I love you Gaara." Lee said through his tears. "I love you, I love you, I love you." Lee kissed Gaara's head again and again and again.

Gaara and Lee fell asleep and slept well for the first time in a week.

* * *

The following week, Lee and Gaara pretended everything was fine. Gaara didn't ask Lee why he was so upset, Lee didn't tell him. They both wanted to ignore everything and pretend it was just fine.

Lee was too excited to wait until Christmas, so he decided he would celebrate on the 6th of December, which he learned was the night Santa Claus visited other countries, mainly ones in Europe.

When Gaara opened the envelope for December 6th, he was greeted with something different than he was used to. There wasn't a picture or a note from Lee, nor was there chocolate. When he unfolded the paper and his eyes skimmed through it, he realized Lee had bought him piano lessons. His eyes widened and he read the paper for the second time, then third.

When Gaara was younger, his sister Temari was taught piano. An instructor would come over three times a week and Temari would throw a fit. The younger Gaara would wait for the instructor to come to sit by the steps at the back of the house and try to listen. He always wanted to learn piano but his father wouldn't let him. He tried to listen as best as he could to Temari's lessons though. It was hard through a door.

When the instructor left, Gaara would rush back to his shed and pretend he was playing a marvelous looking piano for a huge theatre full of people and they would clap and cheer for him. It was always something he smiled most about as a child. It didn't matter that he didn't actually learn, for a time, his imagination was enough.

Gaara's eyes watered when he read it a fourth time and he covered his mouth with his hand. He sat down on his bed and read it a fifth time. Lee was standing at the doorway and didn't know how to respond.

"Are you okay?" He asked and Gaara nodded and Lee saw his eyes skim the paper again. "Did I do okay?" Gaara nodded again.

Finally, Gaara put the paper down on his bed and hugged Lee tightly. He wondered if he would ever tell Lee exactly why the piano lessons made him so happy.

* * *

Gaara looked at his tree with pride. He decorated it to the best of his artistic abilities. He tied small colorful pieces of candy on the branches in random places, this was a popular tradition in some countries. He also took clothes pins and carved names into them, names of people who meant a lot to him.

The clothes pins were decorated with buttons, colors and anything else colorful Gaara could get his hands on. He believed he finally got everyone on the tree.

He had Temari, Kankuro, Kakashi, Guy, Lee and Ino. He smiled at the tree, feeling thankful for the people closest in his life.

* * *

For Gaara's first piano lesson, Lee drove him. Gaara wasn't aware that he would be driven to the Uchiha estate. He looked around at the beautiful gardens and looked in awe at the large house.

"W...who is my instructor?" He asked and Lee raised an eyebrow then smiled.

"Oh I am sorry, I thought I told you already. It is Itachi." Gaara's face heated up and he nodded, Lee looked at him curiously but didn't say anything.

Lee opened the door without a knock and Gaara awkwardly stood in the foyer and Lee grabbed his arm and dragged him along. Sasuke was sitting on a bar stool in the kitchen eating peanuts when he noticed Lee.

"Hey! What are you doing here?" He asked and Lee smiled.

"Gaara is here for his piano lessons." Gaara blushed again and Lee couldn't help but think Gaara was the cutest, most pure human he ever saw. "Where is Itachi?" Sasuke shrugged.

"Itachi!" Sasuke yelled and Lee winced. Gaara was too occupied staring at the house in mild awe.

Itachi walked into the room and Gaara's eyes quickly met his. Itachi was wearing glasses, which was something Gaara only saw once, he actually forgot Itachi had glasses. His hair was down for once and he was wearing a simple dark purple sweater and black pants. He smiled.

"Hello. Nice to see you again, Gaara. Are you ready for your lessons?" Gaara nodded but kept his mouth firmly shut. He wished he could take a picture and send it to Ino. She would probably die.

* * *

"Wait wait wait!" Ino said quickly and extremely excitedly. "Glasses, hair down? Oh my god, how hot was he? Please tell me you took a picture?"

"Well, interestingly enough, I did not, Lee did. He decided he needed a picture of Itachi and I commemorating my first piano lesson. Hold on I'll send it to you." Ino shrieked happily and Gaara sent the message.

"Jesus, mother of god! Gaara! You have the world's hottest teacher. I am so jealous. Do you think I could get some piano lessons too?" Gaara smirked and rolled his eyes.

"You could try. I think he actually wants to teach piano though, not be ogled by an 18 year old girl." Gaara teased.

"And what? Being ogled by a 16 year old boy is just fine?" Gaara frowned.

"I'm going to be 17 in a month." Ino laughed. "Stop making fun of me. Just because you're old enough to join the war and I'm not."

"Gaara, shut up and never change. Now if you don't mind, I'm going to change my wallpaper..."

"But you and I were your wallpaper." Gaara protested and Ino giggled.

"Well now it's you and Itachi."

"I hate you."

* * *

Gaara sat at his desk with his exacto-knife carving another clothes pin. This one wasn't as flashy as the others, in fact, it was on a smaller pin, but there was something telling him no matter the size of the pin, this would be an important person in his life. He didn't know how he knew, he just did.

He spent a while getting the curves in the name just right, he liked writing everything in cursive, even if it was harder to do. He blew the wooden shavings out of the way and brushed it off with his hand. It looked perfect. Gaara grabbed a small paintbrush and dipped it in his purple paint and traced the groove of the name in the wood. When he was done he let it dry, then with another layer of a paint to make the wood shinier, he coated it and let it dry again.

He walked to his tree, sat down and looked at the placement for everyone. He had Lee almost at the top, Ino around the same height, Kakashi slightly lower, then Guy, then Temari then Kankuro. He rubbed his thumb over all of the names with a content sigh. These people meant the world to him.

Gaara grabbed a branch towards the bottom of the tree and pinned the final name and with a satisfied nod, he left to take a shower.

Lee walked into his room shortly after to put a decoration he made Gaara on the side of the tree (so Gaara could place it how he wanted it.) It was kind of childish looking but it was something he made with his scrapbooking equipment. A family picture they took a few days ago. Gaara, Kakashi, Guy and Lee, all wearing silly Santa hats. Lee smiled at the picture and placed it down and looked over Gaara's tree. He grinned at his name on the tree and let his fingers run over the smooth surface.

Lee looked at all the other names until he noticed there was another name. It looked freshly done so Lee didn't want to grab it. He lowered himself to the floor to get a closer look at it. The strange thing was, seeing that name made his stomach feel funny. Why?

In purple script at the bottom of the tree was Itachi.


	26. Chapter 26

It didn't matter what time piano lessons started, Itachi and Gaara had the same routine. Gaara would show up with Lee, Lee would hang out with Sasuke (sometimes Naruto would show up, other times Naruto would be pissed he wasn't invited), they would all sit in the kitchen and eat the pastries Gaara brought (Sasuke and Itachi always fought over the last s'mores muffin. Gaara knew this and continued to only bring one. His response was that Itachi's favorite muffin was blueberry and Sasuke's was chocolate-chocolate chip so they should split it. They rarely did). Then Gaara and Itachi would go into the piano room, easily Gaara's favorite room. They would sit on the couch together while drinking coffee and Itachi would show him music sheets and teach him various symbols and music note meanings.

Once they were done with their coffee, Itachi would bring them over to the piano and teach Gaara which key was which note. Gaara for the most part would absorb the information like a sponge, but sometimes he had difficulty remembering certain things. Itachi was always calm so if Gaara made a mistake, there would only be a gentle reminder.

Feeling the keys of the piano under his fingertips made him smile each time. Gaara thought about the piano at his old house, it was old and worn, this one was new, shiny and smooth. The piano was gorgeous.

Itachi and Gaara would sit on the piano bench together for well over an hour even though the lessons were only an hour long. There was something about teaching someone who really wanted to learn that made Itachi forget about time restraints. Itachi couldn't count how many times he was given a child to learn piano that honestly wanted to do nothing more than not to learn piano. This was refreshing.

Itachi was ashamed it took him this long to realize, after all, he had taught Gaara 5 piano lessons already, he should've caught on sooner. Gaara didn't really know how to read music as much as he appeared to. Gaara had an interesting talent. It was really hard for him to read music, but when he saw Itachi play, he could mimic it nearly perfectly. It was also interesting when he was playing the piano when Itachi wasn't in the room. He would listen to music on his phone and it would take him a bit of testing, but he picked the tune from the song and within minutes could figure out how to play it on piano without the music.

He biggest thought Itachi had was would it be a waste of time to teach Gaara sheet music when he could figure out how to play anything without it?

The next time they had a lesson, Itachi sat Gaara down and handed him music and had him tell Itachi each note on the paper. He even gave Gaara a pen so once he figured it out, he could write the letter next to the note. Teaching Gaara was a lot different from any other student that was for sure.

* * *

"I'm amazed." Sasuke said after a solid 15 minutes of watching TV next to Itachi and Itachi not once speaking.

"What?" Itachi asked as he nibbled on one of the leftover pastries. Gaara was going to make him fat, he knew it.

"It's been 15 whole minutes and 20 since Gaara left and not once have you tried to hook us up. You're growing." Itachi smirked at him.

"I realized it was futile, considering you have N-n-naruto to fawn over." Itachi laughed and Sasuke's face brightened and he chucked a pillow at him.

"I did not stutter like that!" Sasuke yelled and Itachi tossed the pillow back, giving Sasuke a smirk and raised his eyebrow. "I didn't!"

"Yeah okay S-s-sasuke."

Itachi was teasing Sasuke for coming downstairs earlier without a shirt on and in bright orange pajama pants. When he came downstairs, Itachi, Lee, and Naruto were all sitting on the couch talking while Gaara was in the bathroom. Out of everyone on the couch, Sasuke stuttered out Naruto's name and ran away. Naruto looked completely confused and Itachi and Lee just laughed. When Gaara walked in, he was very upset to have missed the spectacle.

"You're a dick and I hate you." Itachi kissed in the direction of Sasuke and Sasuke pouted.

* * *

The final week of school before Christmas was fun. One day was Ugly Christmas Sweater Day and the team dressed the hell up for that.

Everyone had the job to pick out someone elses ugly Christmas sweater so opening them up in the cafeteria when everyone got to school was a spectacle. Gaara opened his up and it was a red eyed gingerbread cookie saying "Let's get Baked!" (Being a sweet sweet dear child he did not get the reference since he was a sheltered child and didn't know much about slang. No one could convince him it wasn't funny because the gingerbread man was trying to kill himself but saying they would imbibe in illegal sustenance.) Ino picked hers up and kicked Gaara with a laugh. It said "Kiss Me Under The Mistletoe" and had an arrow pointing down.

"You ass, now I have to cover that arrow up, they'll never let me wear this without dress coding me." Gaara just stuck his tongue out.

Lee's sweater said "Gingas!" and they were ninja gingerbread men. Naruto's was Santa on a toilet and he laughed for about 3 minutes straight. Sasuke was not happy even a little bit and turned bright red before showing his sweater to the group. It said "FRUITCAKE" with a picture of a fruitcake. Naruto fell over laughing again and probably peed himself in the process. Sakura's said "Drink up GRINCHES it's Christmas!" With wine glasses all over it.

Overall everyone was pretty happy with their sweater.

Except Sasuke.

* * *

"Yearbook!" Someone shouted and Lee turned around surprised. "Pose for the yearbook." For whatever reason, Lee could not understand, even if you ask him a thousand times what he was thinking in that moment, he still would not be able to know why instead of posing with his girlfriend, he wrapped his arms around Gaara like they were taking a prom photo.

Everyone else just went with it. Naruto decided to pose with Sakura and Ino posed as the man with Sasuke. Sasuke glowered but everyone was smiling. Gaara's face was red and he really hoped they didn't put this in the yearbook.

"Thanks for being my prom date." Lee laughed awkwardly and Gaara nodded, still blushing. Ino grabbed Gaara's hand and they waved at the group and left.

"Don't tell me you're still getting all giggly over Lee when you have Hotty as your teacher, I will literally not allow it." Gaara frowned and leaned his head on his locker.

"I can't help it. I love him." Ino sighed sadly and nodded.

"I know... But this is high school and boys are dumb so you should get with a man." Ino winked and Gaara looked at her like she had 6 heads.

"Ino, Itachi is 9 years older than me. I'm only 16." She gave him a look and laughed.

"Oh so now you're only 16 but when it suits you it's 'I'm almost 17'. Shut up. Plus, the age of consent is 17, so..." Gaara rolled his eyes. "Don't give me that bull. You love me."

"Why are you trying to hook me up with Itachi? Don't you have the biggest crush on him." Ino shrugged.

"I'd rather see you happy." The statement sobered Gaara briefly and he looked at Ino and she smiled. "Oh shut up. I'm not sappy. I just love you."

At the end of the day there was an award for funniest ugly Christmas sweater.

The yearbook now had a picture of a very annoyed Sasuke Uchiha holding a trophy.

* * *

Ino and Gaara were in the kitchen rolling out gingerbread dough. They wanted to make a really intricate gingerbread house and decided they hated themselves enough to do it on a school night.

Temari walked into the kitchen and sat on the stool on a far wall and watched them until Gaara turned his head briefly and gave her his attention.

"Are you busy on Christmas?" She asked and he nodded and started cutting walls out for the house.

"Yeah. For a bit. Sasuke and Itachi are throwing a Christmas party and Ino and I were invited. Why?" Temari frowned.

"Well, Itachi invited me too, so I'll be there for a bit. I just wanted to give you your gift on Christmas and I know you don't want to see dad at all." Gaara nodded stiffly. "I miss you. I barely see you anymore."

"Did I tell you what Lee did for me?" Gaara asked suddenly. "He got me piano lessons." Temari understood the statement and smiled weakly.

"I'm happy for you. I know how much you wanted them." Gaara nodded.

"Nothing against you, Temari. I love you. I just have more in my life now than... this. I'll try to spend more time with you though." Temari nodded and walked over and kissed Gaara's temple and left the kitchen. Ino raised an eyebrow.

"Why didn't you tell her about how hot your teacher is." Gaara gave her a look.

"She knows what Itachi looks like, he's a regular here." Ino's mouth opened.

"You're saying he's here every day and I never see him? How the fuck is that fair?" Gaara rolled his eyes at her and she threw a chunk of gingerbread at him.

Two days later when Ino and Gaara were still working on the gingerbread house, Kankuro walked in and his eyes widened.

"Holy fuck, you guys. What the hell?" Gaara stopped piping snow on the roofs and looked at the large gingerbread castle.

"Whoops..." He said in a monotone. "My hand slipped and we made Hogwarts." Ino sat on a stool with a tiny carving blade. She was making the small details.

"I'm making Harry Potter!" She said happily.

"Did you make Draco?" Gaara asked and she held him up.

"Duh, I made him first. HashtagDrarry." Gaara raised his brow.

"Did you just say... hashtag?" Ino ignored him and he rolled his eyes. "Whatever. Don't forget Snape. He's my favorite." Ino snorted.

"Doesn't surprise me you emo little bitch..." She mumbled and Gaara elected to ignore her.

* * *

Gaara was surprised when Lee woke him up one morning with a smile on his face. Gaara sat up on the bed and blinked until he felt a least somewhat awake.

"Yes, Lee?"

"Would you like to come with me to the Christmas festival today?" Gaara didn't even know that was a thing. He nodded. "Wonderful! We're going to leave at 10, you have plenty of time to sleep, it is only 5. I'll see you later." Gaara grabbed Lee's sleeve before he could leave the room. "What?"

"...Stay." Lee blinked then nodded and climbed into Gaara's bed with him. Gaara's bed was soft but super small. Lee didn't mind spooning with him though. "If you have to go train, you can go."

"There is not anywhere else I would rather be than right here." Lee admitted softly and Gaara's eyes shut and sleep took over.

When they woke up it was almost 9 and Lee rubbed his eyes, amazed to know he slept that long. Gaara was just very warm. Gaara sat up and smiled tiredly at Lee.

"Thank you. I slept better." Lee nodded and Gaara climbed over Lee and off the bed. "I'm going to take a shower and get ready." Lee nodded again and Gaara left the room. Lee let out a long exhale of breath and pulled the blankets off of himself and groaned. How did Gaara manage to get him so worked up in their sleep?

With a red face, Lee ran to his room to get changed.

* * *

Gaara was surprised that they arrived at the Christmas Festival and they were alone. There was no Sasuke, Naruto or even Sakura. It was just them.

Lee was in a simple pair of black sweatpants, he probably had something on underneath too. His white sweater was covered by his large black winter coat. He had his green hat on and a pair of black gloves. Gaara worse longjohns under his white sweatpants and had a large gray sweater and a white coat. His hat and gloves were also white. Lee was amazed with how much his eyes and hair stood out against the white color, Gaara looked like an angel.

"So why just us?" Gaara asked as they walked towards the entrance.

"I wanted to spend time with you, only you." Lee said softly. Lee was still acting weird but at this point, Gaara was too nervous to bring it up.

* * *

Lee and Gaara wandered around the festival with cups of hot chocolate. If Kakashi were there, he would've gotten the hot mulled wine, Lee didn't care for the taste. Kakashi had him try it one year, it was not a good year. Plus, that was the year they learned Lee and alcohol does not mix well.

Music was playing and the sound permeated the air. There were live bands playing covers of popular Christmas songs. Gaara didn't care for Christmas songs at this point, neither did Lee. They lived with Guy. Enough was enough.

Gaara's favorite part was stopping at the booths with homemade items. He loved the knitted things. He saw a book, it was kind of girly, a tan color with a maroon boarder and maroon flowers in the corners. The center said "Recipes". It made him stop. Lee saw that it caught his interest and bought it, despite the protests from Gaara.

"Why did you buy it for me?" Lee shrugged.

"You wanted it. I would get you anything." Gaara knew that statement was true. He gave up on fighting Lee about the book and just held it in his hands. It felt nice. He couldn't wait to write his recipes down. Most of them were just in his head.

* * *

Gaara bought a few last minute items for some of his close friends. He wanted everyone to have something from him. He wasn't very good at picking out gifts but he sincerely hoped they appreciated that he tried.

Lee bought a few things too. He held onto knitted flowers and thought about getting one for Sakura but decided in the end to not bother. He didn't want to think about her right now. The more he thought of her the guiltier he felt.

Looking over at Gaara pet sheep made Lee smile, but he didn't know how long this false happiness would last. Gaara would find out and everything would break under them.

* * *

When they got home, they put their bags in their rooms and came downstairs. Kakashi and Guy were huddled around the living room table and Gaara was confused. He walked over and Kakashi swatted him away.

"No! Not yet! It isn't done!" Gaara raised a brow and walked into the kitchen. Lee served him a cup of tea and they both sat down drinking and peeked through the doorway into the living room trying to see what Guy and Kakashi were up to. They seemed hell-bent on finishing it.

"What the hell is that supposed to be?" Kakashi asked.

"It's a chocolate chip cookie." Guy said defensively.

"That's the ugliest looking rock turd I've ever seen." Guy laughed and shoved Kakashi.

"Don't be mean to me, Rival. I am a delicate flower." Kakashi chuckled.

"Shut up. Okay! Gaara! Get in here!" Gaara raised up from the chair and Lee walked with him to the living room. Guy and Kakashi presented him with a stocking. It was red and with gold glittery gel in clumpy letters it spelled GAARA really lopsided. There were tiny sparkly gel pictures all over the stocking. Gaara noted the blob with dots was probably Guy's cookie, there was a rolling pin, a rubber spatula and a frying pan. At the bottom they drew a heart.

Gaara slowly took it into his hands and examined it again. He felt strange. His heart felt different. He looked up into the eyes of Guy and Kakashi and then back down at the stocking.

"I know it isn't the most beautiful thing we've made-" Kakashi started and Guy cut him off.

"Speak for yourself." Kakashi rolled his eyes.

"But we wanted you to have a stocking. We made Lee's when he was a baby and he still has it. We hung them up today if you see the mantel." Gaara turned his head and walked over to the mantel.

Lee's stocking was blue and had a rattle on it with his birth year and he saw a bunch of pictures. A track and field symbol, a martial arts sticker. Essentially the things Lee grew up to love doing. Gaara looked at Kakashi's. It had a typewriter, a martial artist, an apple, a book. Guy's had weights, a martial artist, shoes, a checklist. Gaara tilted his head and looked back at the stocking he held in his hand. He looked up again and noticed an empty hook near Lee's stocking. He slowly hung his up and stared at all four of the stockings on the mantel and felt like... this is what a family Christmas should be.

He turned back to Guy and Kakashi and hugged them.

"Thank you." If Guy was crying, Gaara was kind enough to ignore it.

* * *

The day of the Christmas party was crazy for everyone. It took place 5 days before Christmas and it was hard getting everything ready in time.

At the Uchiha estate, Sasuke was decorating the basement with Naruto. The closet was filled with alcohol that Itachi either wasn't aware of, or simply turned a blind eye to. They set up more chairs, couches, some TVs were brought downstairs and mounted on the walls. Sasuke uncovered the pool table and set up the bar area with snacks.

Upstairs Itachi was setting up the large living room area. He hired a company to help him decorate since he didn't have the time. He brought the piano into the room and went to check on the catering. He sent a text to Gaara after to see if he was still bringing stuff from the café.

Gaara said yes and he also made a cake. Score.

The house looked impeccable and Itachi walked upstairs to his bedroom where he hid a few drinks and snacks. He knew he was eventually going to get bored of the party and hide up here so why not set it up that way?

Itachi grabbed a few gifts he had and brought them down to the tree. The kids were doing a secret santa exchange and Itachi couldn't help but buy some presents for Sasuke's friends. He placed Gaara's present down in front. Itachi knew tonight was going to be something.

He looked at the clock. It was 3pm. The party starts at 6. He has three hours to get ready.

* * *

Ino was at Gaara's house getting ready like always. She sat at his desk and make-up was sprawled all over the place. Gaara wanted to say something but just let it go.

Kakashi knocked on the door and when Gaara opened the door, Kakashi handed him clothes on a hanger and said hello to Ino and closed the door before Gaara could say anything about the clothes.

Gaara put it down on the bed and looked it over. A dark red sweater-vest, a gray collared shirt underneath, black pants and a red bow tie. Ino was absolutely in love.

"Oh my god you're going to look so cute!" Gaara glared at her and she just smiled. "Go on. Get dressed. I'm still doing my makeup.

After Gaara was dressed, Ino turned around and covered her mouth. Gaara looked so handsome! She quickly sat him down and grabbed a brush. He just took a shower not too long ago so his hair was still damp. She blow dried it and straightened it so his hair wasn't flicking up in every direction. She handed him his black suit jacket and when he put it on she practically swooned.

"Oh Gaara, honey. You're so handsome, I can't." She grinned like the Cheshire cat and Gaara sighed.

"What?" She picked up her blending sponge and he rolled his eyes but let it happen.

* * *

Ino was dressed wonderfully and the two made quite the pair. She wore a long sleeved tight off white shirt with a red pencil skirt and a black peacoat and red heels. Her hair was in a beautiful intricate braid-bun and her makeup looked flawless.

Luckily all she did with Gaara was even his skin-tone and made the dark circles around his eyes more even.

"Wow Gaara!" Guy laughed heartily. "You clean up nice! As do you, you look wonderful Ino." Guy complimented and Ino grinned and curtsied.

They heard Lee from in his room rush down the stairs.

"I am ready!" He announced and came to a complete stop when he saw Gaara. Lee's face turned bright red and Ino smirked.

"I know. I made him look bangin'." She bragged and Gaara gave her a side eye and admired Lee.

Lee wore a gray patterned sweater with a white collared shirt on underneath and tight black jeans and a nice suit jacket. His hair was different, it was parted down the middle and pushed to the side a bit. He looked handsome.

"You look magnificent, Gaara." Lee complimented quietly and Gaara nodded at him.

"As do you, Lee." Suddenly, Lee got a terrible foreboding feeling in the gut of his stomach about tonight. He didn't know why, he just knew tonight would end badly.

* * *

Itachi made his rounds at around 7 and walked into the kitchen. He noticed there was a vast array of pastries and a beautiful Christmas cake on the counter. He smiled, realizing Gaara had showed up. He wondered how his student was fairing.

He turned around to head towards the stairs to the basement and bumped into someone, nearly spilling his seltzer.

"Oh I'm sorry, I didn't see you there." Itachi apologized and when he got a good look, he noticed... Gaara? "Gaara?"

"Hello Itachi. How are you?" Itachi was shocked. There was something about the way Gaara was dressed that made him seem... older. More mature. Sexier?

"I'm well. You clean up nice, kid." Itachi noted and Gaara turned pink.

"Ino made me do it..." He mumbled unhappily.

"You look fantastic." Itachi reiterated and Gaara smiled slightly.

"You look good too." Of course Itachi looked good, it was Itachi.

"Gaara! Where are you? They're about to start-Hellooo..." Ino's voice got strangely deeper and Gaara stared at her oddly. She linked arms with Gaara and flashed him a smile. "Hi! I'm Ino. You must be Itachi. Gaara told me how hot you were." Gaara's face turned as red as his hair and he shoved Ino off of him.

"Ino!" Gaara hissed and Itachi blushed slightly but laughed all the same.

"What?" Ino asked innocently. "Anyway! Nice meeting you! I need my boo now though so bye!" Ino dragged Gaara away and Gaara honestly hoped he would never see Itachi again for as long as he lived in this world.

* * *

Three hours into the party and Sasuke and Naruto finally broke out the alcohol. There was about 20 teenagers in the basement and plenty to go around. Lee was given a beer and Ino and Gaara shared a look. Lee and alcohol... Bad. They wondered how this could possibly go wrong.

The first game they played was a card game. The game was called Kings and it was a drinking game. (This game is played differently depending on who plays it. This is the rules for the game here) The purpose of this game was to get everyone as fucked up as they could in a short amount of time. A deck of cards was put in the center of the group and made into a circle so all of the cards touched. In the center was a shot glass of high proof liquor. Whoever broke the circle had to take the shot. The face down cards in the circle had to be drawn each turn and every card meant something different. Two-You (the picker of the card picks someone to drink) Three-Me (the picker of the card drinks) Four- Floor (Last person to touch the floor has to drink. Five- Jive (tell one line of a story with a weird movement, the next person has to remember your line, movement and make up a line while creating new movement and so on) Six- dicks (guys drink) Seven- Heaven (last person to put their hands in the air drinks) Eight- date (you pick someone to be your partner so every time you have to drink, they have to drink too) Nine- rhyme (start a rhyme, person who fails drinks) Ten- Social (everyone drinks) Jack- Rules (picker creates a rule, if someone breaks it they have to drink) Queen- women drink. King- pour the rest of your drink into a cup and put it aside. The last person who draws a king has to drink it all. Ace- waterfall (drink until the person to your right stops.)

Gaara was nervous, had never drank before and was given a beer. Not too bad. The beer was a low percentage. Ino sat to his right and Lee to his left. He didn't know many of the people here so he hoped the game would be fun.

Sasuke started the game and drew a jack and smirked.

"Okay, new rule. Every time someone looks at Naruto, they have to take a drink." Naruto went to complain and Lee snorted.

"Seems like that'll be a problem for Sasuke more than anyone." Sakura giggled and elbowed Lee. Naruto was next to draw a card.

"Oh shit, what does seven mean again?" He asked aloud and everyone threw their hands in the air. Naruto looked at them for a minute before throwing his hands in the air but way too late and he grumbled and took a drink.

The game progressed for a while until Ino was able to draw a card. She picked a six and winked at Gaara and he rolled his eyes and drank his beer. It was gross. He was almost completely done with it though so that was nice. Gaara picked the next card and kissed at Ino when it was a Queen, she rolled her eyes right back at him. Lee picked a card and it was an eight. He grinned.

"Naruto, you will be my date." And then realized he looked at Naruto so had to take a drink which made Naruto have to take a drink. Sakura went next and drew another eight. She looked at Lee and giggled.

"Naruto, will you do me the honors?" Naruto loudly objected and Sakura and Lee looked up at Naruto so they could take a drink and Naruto had to drink twice.

Sasuke drew a four and smacked his hands so hard on the floor, Naruto was startled and almost knocked over someone's beer. Not only did this make it so he was too preoccupied to put his hands on the floor, but Sakura and Lee looked at him again and he groaned and they all drank.

The game ended 10 minutes later when Naruto was not only Lee's and Sakura's date, but also Sasuke's and Kiba's. Luckily though, he was not the breaker of the circle. That was Gaara. Gaara looked pitifully at the shot glass and downed it quickly, hacking right after. At least he wasn't the last to draw a king. That was Lee. Lee had to chug 27 ounces of beer. Gross.

By this point, everyone was at least slightly tipsy. Gaara was giggling within a half an hour and wouldn't stop hugging Ino. Lee was slurring his words and making jokes that didn't even sound like English. Naruto was almost asleep on Sasuke's lap and Sasuke stared at him red faced.

For a while everyone got up and walked around playing pool or games on the wii. Until Sakura decided they needed to play more games, that is.

"Never have I ever?" Ino suggested and Sakura shrugged, too drunk to actually argue with Ino.

A circle formed, this one only had 9 people in it so it wasn't so crazy. Kankuro sat across from Gaara and gave him a thumbs up. Gaara just laughed.

"I love you so much, Gaara." Ino said when she hugged her best friend. "You're like the perfect person in my life. You're perfect. I love you." Gaara hugged Ino again.

"Love you Ino. And I like you more than I like Lee most of the time." Lee looked over and frowned, pulling Gaara away from Ino and into his lap.

"No!" Lee shouted and Sakura giggled.

"Lee you can't drag Gaara into your lap. Put him back." Lee shook his head and buried his face into Gaara's neck. Gaara squirmed on top of him.

"Lee~. That tickles." Lee gave Gaara a drunken grin and proceeded to tickle him mercilessly. Gaara laughed so hard he cried until Kankuro saved him and Gaara sat right next to Kankuro for the game.

"Thank you big brother." Gaara said in a loud whisper and Kankuro nodded and put his arm around Gaara.

"I've always wanted to see what kind of drunk you'd be." He laughed and Gaara just looked up at him with wide eyes. "You're going to regret this in the morning. I hope someone takes care of you." Gaara nodded.

"Okay! Never Have I Ever! Who would like to start?" Gaara's hand raised. "Awesome. Go ahead."

"What do I say?" Gaara asked Kankuro.

"You say 'Never have I ever' then say something you've never done and if someone did that they have to drink." Gaara frowned.

"I don't want to drink anymore." He said quietly and Kankuro chuckled.

"I have a feeling you won't be drinking that much during this game. Go ahead." Gaara sat up straight with some trouble and thought.

"Never have I ever... failed a class." He blurred out and Naruto made a whimpering noise as he took a drink. Kankuro drank, so did Chouji. It was Kankuro's turn.

"Never have I ever performed a striptease for someone." Ino snorted and took a drink with Kiba.

"Never have I ever had to do a walk of shame"

"Never have I ever said 'I love you' just to get laid"

"Never have I ever watched anyone have sex."

It was Lee's turn and Gaara's eyes practically undressed Lee.

"Never have I ever been to school drunk." Sakura's turn.

"Never have I ever grabbed a man's penis without his permission." The way she looked at Lee made Gaara's heart burn. Sasuke was next.

"Never have I ever had sex with my male best friend." Gaara watched Sakura took a shot and his nerves started to get shaken up. He couldn't hear the next few lines but suddenly it was his turn and he just looked at Lee with his heart thudding in his chest. Lee was still happily drunk and swaying back and forth. He didn't see Gaara's eyes hone in on him. Ino noticed. So did Kankuro.

"Never have I ever had sex." It came out so... small. Everyone probably thought he was ashamed, he wasn't. He was scared. He was terrified. He watched Ino take her shot and look at Lee and finally, Lee was paying enough attention to giggle at something. He mumbled a 'what'. Sakura whispered back 'never have I ever had sex' and he said 'oh' and took a shot easily.

Gaara's body felt numb. His pulse was throbbing through his body, it was a tight feeling in his heart. He couldn't breathe properly. Ino gawked at Lee and Kankuro never saw someone get sober as fast as Gaara did just then. He felt his brother shake against him and didn't know what to do. Gaara couldn't feel anything. His lips, fingertips, feet. There was a loud ringing in his ear where sound should've been but he simply couldn't hear anything.

He vaguely heard the noise of his blood rushing through his head and making his face flush with shame. He heard the unclear noises of his uneven breathing. Was he even breathing? Was this breathing? Gaara couldn't tell. He felt like his lungs were ripped out.

This put everything in perspective. This is why Lee was acting weird. More importantly, this is why Lee was late on his birthday. And he didn't even confess!

It was almost a month and Lee didn't mention this at all! He knew it would destroy Gaara and he said nothing. He didn't even try. While Gaara stayed at home waiting for him, making him dinner and spending hours on a cake Lee didn't even touch, Lee was fucking Sakura!

Gaara was seething. He was so angry. He was so hurt. He was mortified and he was so upset. He never thought of everyone in is life that it would be Lee that hurt him this bad.

Gaara stood up on uneven legs and made a dash out of the room. Ino watched him leave with a scowl and stood up.

"Never have I ever cheated on my partner!" She yelled, and glared at Sakura and stormed out. She came back a few seconds later and took a shot from Kankuro's bottle. "Because I'm no fucking liar." And she left again to look for Gaara.


	27. Chapter 27

Gaara stood outside on the back deck where he knew no one would be. He needed time to think. He needed to calm down. He was notorious for his bad temper bad in Suna, but he didn't want anyone to know that here. There was a reason his father called him a demon. Gaara didn't need the nickname following him.

Ino wound up finding him eventually. She just bundled up in her jacket and sat next to him on a chair. Gaara tapped his fingers against the glass table and tried to ignore her. He knew she wasn't going away. This wasn't her fault, he couldn't be angry at her.

"Yes, Ino?" Gaara got his voice to calm down, now it only sounded pained. Ino winced.

"I may still be drunk, but you're still my best friend and that was not cool. I'm sorry you found out like that. That was super not cool. Lee is just not cool." She held his hand and Gaara had to tap on the table with his other hand. A nervous tick he developed.

"I'll get over it." Gaara said emotionlessly and Ino saw his expression change. He was fragile, now he was nothing. It was amazing how quickly his expression disappeared from his face.

"Honey, don't. You have the right to be angry." She started to cry which was strange for Ino, and hugged him. "I'm angry at him too. You're my perfect best friend and I love you and he doesn't deserve you because you're so perfect and I love you." Both of them turned to the sound of the back porch door slide open.

"Everything alright?" Itachi. Great, this day gets better and better.

"Lee is an asshole!" Ino declared loudly and Itachi was taken back by her tone. He then realized she was drunk and sighed. "You should-you should kick him out!"

"Ino, it's okay. I'm fine." There was that face again. Ino frowned and sat back down. Itachi stood several feet away.

"Hey, Ino. Do you mind if I talk to Gaara for a minute." Ino pouted her lip at him but got back up and kissed Gaara's head and left them alone. After all, she was a lot of things but cock-block was not one of them.

Itachi sat down next to Gaara where Ino had just been and looked at the sky. Snow was falling at an incredibly scarce and slow pace but there were still flurries. The moon was bright overhead and the stars could be seen in the small gaps between the clouds. It was a beautiful night. It felt wrong to be the night containing heartbreak.

"It's okay if you don't want to talk about it. I know Ino is your friend but you looked like you needed some down time. Drunk girls can be... overbearing, especially drunk best friends." Itachi said calmly, Gaara only nodded. "Would you like to go inside? I have some food and drinks hidden in my room. We can get away from the party." Gaara nodded slowly and Itachi stood up and offered Gaara his hand to help him stand. They both snuck back into the house and Itachi used the back staircase to get upstairs unseen.

Itachi's bedroom was nice, sleek, and open. He had a large bed with a black marble headboard and across from it was a flatscreen mounted on the wall. He had a desk with a nice computer and all of his paperwork and briefcase in the corner and on the opposite end he had his dresser and mirror.

Itachi's bed looked bigger than any bed Gaara saw and that was impressive. Grabbing the remote and bedside tray filled with goodies, Itachi sat on the bed and patted the seat next to him. Gaara complied.

Him and Gaara ate tortilla chips and salsa in silence for a while. Itachi offered Gaara a drink and Gaara took the water. By the smell of Gaara's breath, Itachi was able to easily deduce that he had been drinking. What the hell did Sasuke do to these poor teenagers? They better all be sleeping over if they were drinking.

"Lee..." Gaara started, his voice cracked from not using it for a bit. He cleared his throat and Itachi looked at him giving him all of his attention. Gaara scoffed and shook his head. "Lee slept with Sakura and he didn't tell me about it. It's stupid I shouldn't be upset but I am."

"If it makes you upset, it isn't stupid. There's a reason. What's yours?" Gaara's face burned with shame. "It's okay, Gaara. I'm not here to judge you. I'm just trying to help."

"Lee and I... were... close. Not sexual, but..." Gaara scratched his head trying to say this without sounding like a terrible person. "We would kiss a lot. We slept in the same bed a lot. He told me he loved me and I was special to him..." Gaara covered his face with his hands, embarrassed. "I shouldn't have done that though. I knew he was with someone and I'm just... a bad person."

"I wouldn't say you're a bad person. Just you've done something morally questionable. Doesn't mean you're a criminal. We've all done things we aren't proud of or we wish we could take away. It's part of being human. You have every right to be upset with Lee for what he did to you. Let yourself be angry with him for as long as you need, and then forgive him. Don't forgive him for him, forgive him for you. You don't need to carry that anger around forever.

"Like I said before, guys are stupid and just because I've known Lee for years and I know he is a good kid, that doesn't exempt him from the statement. Sasuke is stupid, so is Naruto. Hell, I'm stupid sometimes and so are you. You don't know what happened with Lee and Sakura, how it came up. I know right now you don't want to hear it, and that's okay. You'll listen when you're ready if it's a story you need to hear. If Lee does love you, which I'm sure he does in his own way, this will run its course. I always said to Sasuke, if you're meant to be with someone, you'll eventually be with them. Right now? You aren't supposed to be with him. Maybe Sakura has to teach Lee a lesson first or maybe you have to be taught something without him. You'll figure it out in the end. Maybe you don't even end up with him and you'll think back to this day with your spouse and wonder why you ever worried. It'll be okay, Gaara."

Gaara sat in a comfortable silence with Itachi after Itachi's speech. It was satisfying to her and he was glad for it.

"I think you're going to be an important person in my life." Gaara admitted and Itachi smiled.

"I feel the same way. Now let's forget about the party downstairs and watch TV.

* * *

The next morning, Gaara woke up with a pretty bad headache. He sat up and realized he was still in Itachi's room, in Itachi's bed. His face colored and he looked around and Itachi was nowhere to be seen. He turned to his right and on the nightstand was two advil, a glass of water, and a note.

 _Gaara,_

 _Take this when you wake up. It'll help with that hangover you're going to be nursing for a few hours._

 _Itachi_

Gaara took it quickly and looked down at his clothes. They were rumpled up and a mess but he really didn't care. Gaara walked to the bathroom attached to Itachi's room and washed his face from all the makeup Ino put on him. He rinsed his mouth out with Listerine since he didn't have a toothbrush and he drank so much last night he probably peed for 5 minutes straight.

Gaara did the best he could to fix his hair with his fingers but it wasn't helpful. When he was done, he left the room. The first person he saw was Sasuke. Sasuke stared at him wide eyed and it took Gaara a minute to figure out why. Then he remembered he was leaving Itachi's room with rumpled clothes and bedhead. He would be concerned if it was his brother too. Gaara simply waved and walked down the stairs in search of Itachi.

"Good morning, Gaara." Itachi greeted from a barstool in the kitchen. He was drinking a cup of coffee while cleaners moved all around to get rid of the evidence of last night's party.

"Morning. Everyone gone?" Itachi nodded and Gaara breathed a sigh of relief. He sat down next to Itachi and Itachi handed him a cup of coffee. "I don't want to go home."

"Want to go out to eat with me?" Itachi offered and Gaara looked up at him confused and Itachi looked around the kitchen. "I'm hungry and there's way too many people here cleaning so I can't cook. Might as well go get something to eat."

"But... I look terrible." Itachi gave him a look over and shook his head.

"No. You look perfect. Let's go."

* * *

Itachi finally dropped Gaara off around 4pm and Gaara's heart was heavy in his chest. Itachi told him if he needed a place to stay, the estate had plenty of rooms. Gaara thanked him and got out of the car and walked into the house.

"Hello Gaara. We were worried last night. Thank you for texting us when you woke up though." Guy thanked and Gaara nodded. "What were you up to all day?"

"I was with Itachi." Kakashi raised an eyebrow.

"Where were you last night?" Gaara shrugged.

"I was with Itachi." He took off his coat and Guy gave Kakashi a questioning look and Kakashi shook his head and Guy looked relieved.

"I hope you had fun. Lee is upstairs." Kakashi said easily and noticed how frigid Gaara's body became. He tensed up in a second. "Are you ok?" When Gaara looked at Kakashi, he knew Gaara found out. His heart went out to the boy. Gaara gave a half-assed nod and a wry smile. He quickly made his way up the stairs and hid in his room.

"He knows, doesn't he?" Guy asked and Kakashi sighed deeply.

"He knows."

* * *

All day long, Lee had been waiting for Gaara to get home. He just needed to talk to him. Just a little bit! He knew he got drunk last night and by the way Ino smacked him across the face when Sakura left, he knew that Gaara found out he slept with Sakura. And Ino could smack really hard. Lee's cheek was still red.

When Lee heard Gaara's voice downstairs, tears sprung in his eyes. If he could just talk to Gaara and explain to him what happened... Would Gaara understand?

Lee decided to try, it didn't hurt to try, right? When he heard Gaara's door shut, he took in several deep breaths and opened his bedroom door and walked across the hall to Gaara's door and knocked lightly on it. It was then that he noticed the strange noise from inside the room.

"Gaara?" Lee tapped on the door. "Gaara can I talk to you?" When Gaara didn't answer but the noises persisted, Lee opened the door.

Gaara was standing in the middle of the room with his earbuds in, yanking down the lights Lee put up at the beginning of the month. Gaara's room looked like a mess.

"Gaara?" Lee's heart beat faster as he reached his hand out and grabbed Gaara's shoulder. Gaara whipped around like a frightened animal. Lee saw the tears on his face, his eyes were red. He wasn't crying long enough for his face to become swollen, but it was getting there. Gaara pulled the earbuds out of his ears.

"What?" He hissed and Lee retracted his hand.

"I-I want to talk to you." Lee admitted quietly and Gaara laughed. His eyes were sharp, his smile was fake and his laugh was dry. It was scary sounding. "Please, Gaara."

"I don't want to talk to you. You can leave." Gaara said quietly and bunched up the wires that still had letters attached to them and shoved them into Lee's chest. "Get out."

"Please, if you'll just let me explain." Lee begged and Gaara scratched his cheek with a smile. A dangerous smile. Lee didn't think he'd ever seen Gaara smile this wide. He laughed again.

"No." He said simply with a grin. "Just no." He was still crying and occasionally Lee saw his lower lip quiver but he kept the smile firmly on his face. "I can't talk to you Lee. I'm angry at you."

"But Gaara-"

"Stop." Gaara's voice was very low and threatening. "Get the fuck out of this bedroom and get away from me. There's nothing you can say to me that I want to hear from you."

"B-but Gaara. Y-you don't know that." Lee couldn't keep his brave face on anymore. Tears were coming out quickly and he could barely see passed them. "L-let me try."

"No Lee. I'm done with this. I'm done with you. Whatever it is we had, I'm not doing anymore. I can't." Gaara put his hands up in defeat and turned around and started getting changed into clothes that didn't make him look like a prat anymore.

"Please! Gaara! Stop! You are not letting me talk and-"

"I don't WANT TO HEAR YOU TALK." Gaara never raised his voice that loud, it startled Lee and downstairs, Kakashi and Guy were considering dragging Lee out of Gaara's room.

"Gaara." Lee whispered as Gaara pulled on a pair of sweatpants. Gaara ripped off his shirt and Lee looked at the scars all over his back and his upper arms. Gaara was never careless enough to let Lee see the scars in this kind of light. They were terrifying. Some of them even... looked like... burns?

Lee's heart ached. Gaara was abused so badly and he just hurt his heart and he didn't want to! He wanted to hug Gaara and try to make everything alright again. Lee would spend years begging him if that's what it came down to.

"Gaara." Gaara pulled a hoodie over his shirt and turned around and picked up his phone. Lee saw him turn it on and froze when he saw the background was a picture of him. Gaara seemed to forget too and his movements faltered. "I love you." Gaara shook his head. "I do-"

"I loved you too, Lee. I loved you so much." Gaara's voice was quiet, defeated. "I loved you so much I let you kiss me, knowing fully well that you had a girlfriend but I loved you and all that mattered was you. I loved you so much I sat here waiting for you to be done hanging out with Sakura so I could be with you. I loved you so much I spend two days making you a birthday cake you didn't even touch. I loved you so much that I ignored all the signs that said this wasn't okay. I ignored them all month long. This is what I get for loving you. Where is my gratification? Where is the Lee that picks me over Sakura? I just have one thing to say to you Lee." Gaara looked Lee dead in the eyes. "I am NOT your plaything. I don't show it, but I have feelings just like you. I've been hurt my entire life and not done a damn thing about it because I thought I deserved it. I don't. And I will not let myself give everything I have to someone who doesn't appreciate me." Gaara picked Lee's pin off the tree and gently placed it in Lee's hand. "Here. Give this to Sakura for me. Congratulations. She won." With that, Gaara grabbed his bag and left the room.

"I'm sorry. I can't be here right now." Gaara apologized to Guy and Kakashi. Kakashi stood up and grabbed a set of keys. "What are you doing?"

"Let's take a drive, Gaara. Guy stay with Lee. Make sure he doesn't do anything too dumb." Guy nodded and gave Gaara a look. It wasn't a bad look. A look that said 'I approve what you're doing'.

Kakashi and Gaara got into the car and Kakashi just drove. He didn't drive anywhere in particular. He seemed to stay on the back roads mostly. He didn't force Gaara to talk, he didn't even ask any questions. He just drove and it was nice watching the sun set and seeing the stars in the sky.

About an hour into driving Kakashi turned to him.

"You hungry? I'm dying." Gaara nodded. "I'm still in my pajamas so how's fast food." Gaara didn't care.

After they bought their food, Kakashi parked the car in a lot overlooking the town park. It looked wonderful with the light layer of snow undisturbed. The car's engine still rumbled and the heat coming out from the vents was toasty. The radio wasn't on but that was okay. It was a comfortable silence they spent eating in.

Once they were done, Gaara gathered the courage to look at Kakashi.

"I'm sorry." Kakashi's eyebrows furrowed together.

"Why?" It was Gaara's turn to look confused.

"I spoke to Lee in a not nice manner; I apologize if by doing so I offended you. I shouldn't have spoken to your son like that, especially in your house." Kakashi swatted his hand and drank a bunch of his soda.

"No no, you're fine. He deserved it. Hell, if Guy did something like that when we were that age, I would've yelled too. Besides, you're my son too." The nonchalant way Kakashi put it made Gaara pause. He looked up at Kakashi in bewilderment and Kakashi smirked at him. "What?" Gaara's face turned sad.

"No one... ever said that... but... proudly before." Kakashi ruffled Gaara's hair.

"Well, I'm very proud." Gaara felt an emotion he wasn't used to feeling. It was a wholesome feeling and for once, it was like nothing bad ever happened to him.

* * *

Lee sat in his bed, staring at the clothespin with his name on it. His heart felt broken in more ways than he even knew it could be broken in. He wondered if Gaara would ever forgive him.

Thinking of his birthday made him sick to his stomach. He didn't like remembering that day. He didn't even like living through that day. It was awkward and not something he wanted to do at all. He wasn't even 100% sure why he did it at all.

Lee just wanted Gaara to come home and he wanted to make up with him and show Gaara that he was worth the forgiveness.

He rubbed his eyes, trying to get rid of the aching pain behind his eyes. He cried so much he gave himself a headache. And still he couldn't stop crying. He turned on his phone and looked at all the pictures he had with Gaara and looked at pictures he had with Sakura. It was crazy to see how much happier he looked standing next to Gaara than he did with Sakura.

The one worrying thought that plagued Lee's mind is what if Gaara found someone else? It was completely selfish of him to think that way considering he had Sakura, and Gaara was right. He would put her first in a lot of instances just because she was his girlfriend. In his heart though, he could feel that it only belonged to one person. The realization that he destroyed the person he loved most was the hardest thing Lee had to come to terms with.

Sakura's face flashed on his screen and he frowned at the phone and tossed it across the bed, not wanting to talk to her right now. It was his own fault for getting himself into this mess, but damn it, all he wanted was Gaara.

Guy told Lee that Gaara and Kakashi went for a ride and Lee hoped maybe Kakashi would be able to get Gaara to hear Lee out. It wasn't something Kakashi was known for, but just maybe.

Lee's phone vibrated and Lee picked it up, seeing that he had a text from Sakura.

'You okay?'

No. He wasn't. But Sakura didn't need to know that. There was no point in hurting two people he cared about.

He laid down on the bed and look into the darkness of his room. Every now and again he would forget the aches in his body and it was just like any other day. Then he had the crushing realization that Gaara wasn't his anymore... To be honest, Gaara never really was his, was he?

Lee closed his eyes and willed himself to go to sleep. It wasn't hard with his exhaustion, but what he didn't want was for his dreams to bring him back to his birthday.

Reliving that day in a dream was trippy. Everything was out of synch and kind of wavy. Lee could tell the colors were off and the sound was like listening to it underwater.

"Sakura, we have to be back at my house at 5. Gaara said he has something for me." Lee insisted and Sakura rolled her eyes and they got into the car. "Is everything okay?"

"Yup." She popped the p at the end and Lee began driving.

"No it is not. What is wrong?" Sakura scoffed at him.

"I'm trying to make your birthday really nice for you and the first thing you tell me is you need to rush home to Gaara? It's just annoying. I feel like I'm competing for your attention with him. All you talk about is Gaara. Is there something going on with you two or something?" Lee got defensive.

"What? Sakura. You are being ridiculous. I told Gaara I would be home before you even asked me to come over. I pushed back everything with Gaara FOR you. Why are you so mad at me?" Sakura shook her head and Lee sighed deeply. Getting through to Sakura when she was annoyed would never work. She didn't want to hear anything.

They pulled into her driveway and Sakura hopped out of the car before Lee even parked it completely. He groaned as he unbuckled his seatbelt and prepared himself for the worst. He shut the car door and walked up the steps to the front door. Sakura was already inside and a part of Lee wanted to just leave her here and go home. It was his birthday and she was making it all about herself.

Lee shook his head and reminded himself of all the terrible things he's done and told himself she was justified for being jealous of Gaara, not that he would tell her.

Sakura was in her bedroom working on homework by the time Lee took off his shoes, shut the door and walked through the house. He wasn't even sure why he was here. Sakura was just going to keep giving him jabs all afternoon and he didn't want to deal with that. Still, he sat down next to her on the bed and pulled out homework.

"What are you doing?" Asked Sakura and Lee looked at her confused.

"Home...work?" He said slowly and she rolled her eyes for the seemingly 100th time that day. "What? What is wrong? You are doing homework. What would you like me to do?" Sakura teared up and Lee tensed. "Sakura, do not cry. Why are you upset?"

"Do you not think I'm pretty or something?" Lee's eyes widened.

"Why would you think that?" He asked and she rubbed the tears away from her eyes.

"We're alone in my house and you pull out homework." She stated and Lee looked down at her lap to stare at her homework. "Well I'm the girl! I'm not supposed to make the first move." She insisted and he looked at her curiously.

"What first move?" He asked and she practically hissed and grabbed Lee's face and kissed him. When she pulled away, Lee's tiny voice muttered an "oh" and she smiled and he awkwardly sat up. For whatever reason, kissing her was making him feel guilty and nauseated. She kissed him again and he closed his eyes tightly. He kept his hands on her back, not at her neck where he usually held Gaara. He didn't want to feel her hair tickle his knuckles. He wanted to pretend he wasn't kissing Sakura.

Remembering the morning was an easy way to do that. He thought about pushing Gaara against the wall and Gaara kissing him back with so much force. Gaara's tongue in his mouth, Gaara's wet lips when they pulled away. Gaara's lust filled eyes. Gaara. Gaara. Gaara. Lee moaned into the kiss and he felt Sakura's lips curl up. She switched them so she was on top of Lee now and they didn't break the kiss. Lee kept his eyes closed as much as he could. Sakura seemed content that he seemed to react positively to their kissing. Clothes were pushed and tossed off out of the way. Lee felt his cock throb remembering Gaara's moan earlier. He felt Sakura's hand on the base of his cock but it wasn't Sakura's hand, it was Gaara's. He felt himself slip inside her and for a moment everything was nice. The feeling was unlike anything he felt before.

Lee's eyes opened and he saw Sakura's face and completely tensed up. No. No no no.

"Stop." Lee shook his head. "Sakura stop." His heart was racing and Sakura's face showed concern but she didn't move.

"Lee are you okay?" Was the room getting smaller?

"Sakura. Please. Get off of me." She was worried, his eyes were filled with tears. He was having a panic attack. She got off of him and he jumped off the bed and his legs were so unsteady he fell to the floor. He was shaking terribly and pulled his pants up.

"Lee. Lee what's wrong?" Sakura stood up and she looked frightened. What was wrong with him? "Lee, please talk to me." Lee shook his head.

"I-I'm sorry. I have to go." Lee was out of Sakura's house so quick she barely had time to register he was out of the room by the time he got into his car.

Lee drove off, hyperventilating until he pulled off to a spot to look over the mountains, the same spot he took Gaara. He watched the sky and for a while, he was okay.

Then he remembered what he did. Guilt crept up his spine like ice and he cried. Not only did he feel disgusting because he felt like he cheated on Gaara, he felt disgusting that he let himself get aroused when he was with Sakura because he was thinking about Gaara. None of this was okay. He was awful. He was terrible. Gaara would never forgive him, who knew if Sakura would even look at him again.

Lee looked at the clock. It was 6pm and he told Gaara he would be there at 515 the latest. Lee chalked that up to another failure on is part and turned on the car and rushed home.

* * *

Lee woke up in his bed, covered in sweat. He was breathing heavily and when he touched his cheeks he could feel that they were still wet. Would this get any easier? Lee heard people went numb instead of being this sad about things and wished he was one of them. The pain of losing Gaara was... shattering.

Lee heard the front door open and he heard Gaara's voice. He heard Gaara walk up the stairs and the closer he heard footsteps, the quicker Lee's heart beat. Gaara's footsteps faded away and he heard him go into his room. Lee let out a long breath he held for god knows how long and stared at his door in the darkness.

What Lee was really upset about, was in most of his life he never looked at himself as a bad person. He didn't feel like he was. The thought of being the villain in Gaara's story, that didn't bode well with him.

Lee hoped and prayed that Gaara would forgive him.

First, Lee had to forgive himself.


	28. Chapter 28

Since they were out of school until January, it was incredibly awkward in the house. Gaara rarely left his room and when he did, he left the house. Lee was becoming more and more closed off and he stopped answering any of his friends on the phone. He started getting really antsy and jealous whenever he saw Itachi pick him up for his piano lessons. It seemed that they went beyond what he paid for, the two spent a lot of time together lately.

Kakashi tried to get Lee to talk to one of them but Lee just shook his head. His parent's concern was getting more and more profound. Lee didn't really care. There wasn't much he cared about at this point. He sat at his desk and he worked on Gaara's Christmas present. He knew Gaara wouldn't appreciate it as much as he would've had they not fought, but he hoped Gaara accepted the present at least.

A part of Lee insisted that Gaara had to like it with all the time and effort he put in it, but then he remembered his birthday cake, it looked like it took Gaara a while and he didn't appreciate it as much as he should've. He was just so broken that day.

Gaara was still in the house and it made Lee sit on edge. His leg was bouncing and he bit his thumb a lot. He couldn't stand looking at their pictures anymore so moved away from his desk and sat on his bed and stared at the wall. There was nothing that made him feel any better.

There was a knock at his door but he didn't move to answer it. The door opened anyway.

"Lee?" Oh no. It was Sakura. Lee could cry right now. "Lee, sweetie, are you okay?" Sakura left the door wide open and walked across the floor and sat on the bed. "I was worried about you. You've been acting strange for a while. Are you okay?" Lee wanted to snap that she asked that question already but he heard the familiar hum of a car engine outside.

Seconds later, Gaara's door opened. He was dressed nicely. The sweater from Thanksgiving and a nice pair of jeans. His hair looked straight again and he was wearing his green beanie. He had his winter jacket hung over his arm and he grabbed his keys and bag before he looked up across the hall and saw Sakura sitting on Lee's bed. Lee wanted to reach out to him and say something-anything. But Gaara averted eye contact and stared at the ground and left the house without so much of a goodbye.

"You're fighting with Gaara." Sakura's words were flat, nothing like the soothing sound they were just a moment ago. "That's what has you so upset? Gaara?"

"I do not wish to talk about it." Lee said with his voice cracking. Sakura stood up from the bed angrily.

"Well tough! You always had this thing with Gaara. What is it even about? Why are you so obsessed with Gaara?!" Lee looked at her with desperation in his eyes, eyes that said 'please stop talking'.

"Sakura. Not now." Sakura pursed her lips.

"I can't believe you. After everything that happened between us and you're going to push me away from you because of him?" Sakura was getting hysterical and Lee closed his eyes and prayed that his parents weren't home to hear this pathetic onslaught. "You act like you're in love with him or something!" Lee's eyes opened slowly and he frowned, looking at Gaara's door. Sakura took an incredulous step back. "Oh my god... Holy shit. Are you serious?" She shook her head and laughed dryly. "You ARE in love with him."

"Sakura, I believe I asked you very nicely to refrain from this conversation. Can you please respect my wishes enough to do that? Please?" Sakura was livid. How dare he? She just found out that he didn't even love her, he loved Gaara! And he was sitting here moping about Gaara and ignoring her for days!

"No! We're having this discussion now!" Sakura's shrill voice exclaimed. Lee's patience was being tested heavily today and he was already wearing thin. "Are you or are you not in love with Gaara?!"

"Of course I am!" Lee snapped. "I literally could not imagine being more in love with him than I am! Is that what you want to hear? What the hell do you want me to say to you, Sakura?!" Sakura stared at him in awe. She never saw Lee angry before. He was never angry, especially at her. But the shock melted away into hurt and anger. Lee thought it was ironic how since they were talking about something SHE didn't want to discuss anymore, she stormed out of the house.

Lee felt a weight removed on his heart. It was only stunted by the realization that it was a little too late for it to matter.

* * *

While Gaara was playing scales on the piano, getting his fingers used to the motions, him and Itachi were trying to have a nice conversation. Gaara had been better today than yesterday or the day before. Itachi forgot what the first heartbreak sting felt like, but he did remember being upset. Gaara was coping with any way he knew how. Itachi was proud to have gotten him to write music instead of breaking someone's neck. Gaara insisted he was almost done with the lyrics and that was exciting. Itachi couldn't wait to hear the tune and match it with an instrument.

"Would you like to sing me a line of your song?" Itachi was more curious about how Gaara sung, he never did that at practice before. Gaara shrugged. "The chorus is usually the easiest part to sing if you wanted to try that." Gaara hit a few notes on the piano and hummed trying to get his voice tuned and then rubbed his face to get himself in the mindset.

"I'm out here on my knees, you and I will never be, I can't compete it's true. Can't give you what you need, but still my love is yours to keep, it's yours to keep with you. There's nothing I can do. I'm yours to keep..." Gaara trailed off for a moment but continued the song. "You said 'sing to me' ladie di I would sing you soft to sleep, I would hold you in the silence. But now, I'm awake, my mistake, I was wading in the deep, I was searching for an island, but I'm still lost at sea... This is nothing like I thought it would be. I'm out here on my knees, you and I will never be, I can't compete it's true. Can't give you what you need, but still my love is yours to keep, it's yours to keep with you..."

"That was lovely, Gaara." Itachi was impressed. He was always amazed when someone could turn their heartbreak into something beautiful.

"Thank you, Itachi." Itachi thought for a moment.

"What are you doing for your birthday?" Gaara shrugged.

"Probably nothing. No one really cared. I'm sure this year won't be different." Itachi frowned at him, he wondered how this kid's home life was before he moved in with Kakashi and Guy.

"It'll mean something to a lot of people this year, I promise you, kid." Gaara frowned.

"I'm not a kid. I'm a teenager. There's a difference." Gaara said flatly and Itachi chuckled.

"Oh I'm sorry for offending you, Mr. Teenager." Gaara smirked and playfully hit Itachi's shoulder with his own.

"Shut up." Itachi laughed again.

"Anyway, I was thinking, if we got together on your birthday, I could bring you to the studio and we could record some of your songs. I could put some instrumentals to it. It'll be fun." Gaara's eyes widened.

"You'd do that for me?" Itachi nodded.

"Sure I would. What are friends for?" Gaara smiled, he had such great friends.

* * *

On Christmas Eve, Kakashi and Guy demanded Lee and Gaara come downstairs for their Christmas Eve box. Usually it excited Lee but this year he just accepted it like a punishment.

"What's a Christmas Eve box?" Gaara asked after they handed it to them. This is where Lee would normally answer, but Lee wasn't himself lately so Guy did.

"Since Lee was a little kid, we would put together a box for the night before Christmas. It had Christmas pajamas, popcorn, hot chocolate, candy and a movie in it. We continued this tradition since Lee was two." Hm. Sixteen years. That was nearly Gaara's entire life. Gaara thanked them for the box and unwrapped it. He took out the pajamas first and couldn't help but laugh. It was a pair of footsie pajamas. They were red with little Santas all over them.

"Don't ask. I let guy pick pajamas this year." Kakashi sighed and Guy gave him a thumbs up.

In the box was movie theatre butter popcorn, a bag of reeses pieces, marshmallow hot chocolate and the movie Die Hard. Gaara looked up at them questioningly.

"Die Hard is a great Christmas film." Guy stated calmly and Kakashi laughed.

"Yeah. Also, Lee told us your favorite Harry Potter character was Snape and Alan Rickman is in that movie. We thought you'd like it." Gaara stared at the cover and nodded.

"I do. Thank you." He looked at everyone, even Lee. "I suppose I'll go get changed now." Gaara put his box of goodies down and went upstairs with his pajamas.

"Lee, I know you're depressed but acting like how you're acting isn't going to fix things with him." Kakashi explained.

"Yeah. You have to act a bit like yourself. Don't worry kid, Gaara will come around." Lee sighed and picked up his pajamas without looking at them and put his box down next to Gaara's.

"I know. It is just hard. I want him to like me again but he's so... cold."

"Lee, it's only been four days. I understand you miss him but give him time to cool down and then you two can have a discussion. He even said thank you to you today. Count that as progress."

* * *

Christmas morning came and the boys had to be woken up. Kakashi was angry that they weren't more excited but he knew he was just grumpy because Guy woke him up excitedly and he was up since 6.

Gaara was really confused when he was woken up for Christmas. He seemed to forget during Christmas you get a lot of presents.

He grabbed all the things he got for everyone and scrambled downstairs in his footsie pajamas. Lee couldn't believe how smitten he was even with Gaara angry at him. Gaara was the cutest and seeing him in those pajamas was the highlight of his day.

Everyone exchanged gifts and Gaara was very thankful for everything he got. This amused Kakashi and Guy because the only thing he opened so far was socks, a sweater, some underwear, stuff for his hair, and a Sherpa blanket. They hadn't given him his big gift. Gaara stood up and hugged them nonetheless and went to leave the living room to make breakfast and they called him back over.

"You didn't think that was all you got, did you?" Guy teased and Gaara looked completely lost.

"I never got anything before so this is the most anyone ever got me for Christmas. I thank you for it. You needn't give me more." Gaara insisted and Guy teared up at the humble attitude and Kakashi stood up and walked to the corner of the room. There was a long rectangular box with Gaara's name.

"Well, this is from me, Guy and Lee. We hope you like it." Gaara took it tentatively and looked at each of them individually. Even Lee. The gift was heavy so Gaara placed it on the ground and sat down with it. He looked up at Kakashi and Guy one last time and they ushered him along. He started ripping the paper off and when he caught the word in the corner his eyes widened and he quickly disposed of the rest of the paper. He looked up at them with shock and Kakashi and Guy were smiling, so was Lee.

"Seriously?" Gaara bit his lip trying to contain his excitement.

"Yes, seriously. Merry Christmas, Gaara. You deserve it." Kakashi said with a laugh and Gaara looked back down. His eyes watered and he opened the box to his new keyboard. It had a screen on it so Gaara could tell which note he was hitting and there were so many other features he couldn't concentrate right now because he didn't know what to do.

"Thank you so much."

* * *

Later on in the day while Gaara sat on his bed in his room and played with his new keyboard, Lee finally got the courage to give him his gift.

Gaara looked up when he felt eyes staring at him and Lee stood in the doorway holding a present.

"You didn't need to get me anything." Lee smiled wryly.

"Well then, it's a good thing I made it, right?" He took a tentative step in and looked at the package and bit the inside of his cheek. "Listen, I know you're upset and you have every right to be. But I've been working on this for a while and... it would mean a lot to me if you at least looked at it. If not, I understand." Gaara stared at him for a minute and was surprised by the lack of anger he felt towards Lee. He was also shocked at the lack of love.

When he looked at Lee, he felt nothing.

"Okay." Lee handed Gaara the present and Gaara opened it carefully. "It's a scrapbook." He said, mainly to himself. He opened the book to the first page and it was pictures of the café, pictures of Gaara in his uniform. The next section was dedicated to their apple picking trip. Gaara in the wagon, Gaara eating pizza, Gaara eating a donut. There was one page with the picture Lee took of Gaara in the tree, right next to the picture Gaara took of Lee in the tree.

Gaara flipped through the whole book and was surprised they had so many pictures together. There were even pictures with him and Ino, him with his siblings, him with Kakashi and Guy. It was clear that Lee spent a lot of time on the book. It still didn't bring back any feeling.

"Thank you Lee. It's great."

* * *

New Years took place at their house. There were some friends coming over and after a while, Gaara was surprised he didn't see Sakura. Could she not make it?

"Who are you looking for?" Ino asked and Gaara frowned.

"Sakura. She isn't here." He noted and Ino shrugged.

"So?" Gaara was just curious. What kept her away. Kakashi walked over to ask Ino and Gaara how they were and Gaara couldn't help ask.

"Where is Sakura?" Kakashi snorted and covered his mouth.

"Oh. You were serious? Um. They broke up." Gaara's eyes widened.

"What? What happened?" Ino asked, now amazingly interested in the conversation.

"I really shouldn't say. It... It was bad. Gaara doesn't need to hear it, I don't need him getting confused." Kakashi said and quickly walked away.

"What the fuck." Ino looked around and saw Sasuke. "Gaara, I'm going to ask Sasuke. He might tell me if you aren't around since apparently we're protecting your delicate sensibilities. Go do something and I'll let you know what I find." Gaara shrugged and walked away. Ino walked closer to Sasuke and waved him over when he noticed her staring at him. "What happened with Sakura and Lee? I heard they broke up?"

"Yeah they broke up... like... two weeks ago? I think?"

"Two weeks ago?! Why didn't anyone tell me?" Sasuke shrugged.

"I figured Gaara knew since they had a fight in the house. Guess he wasn't home." Ino rolled her eyes.

"No shit, Sherlock. What the fuck happened?" Sasuke looked uncomfortable.

"Well, just don't tell Gaara, Lee would be so embarrassed." Ino crossed her fingers and agreed. "Well I guess Lee was sulking or whatever, Sakura came over pitching a fit that he was ignoring her, then demanded to know if it was because of Gaara. Lee asked her to leave him alone and when she freaked out and said no, he snapped and yelled that he was in love with Gaara and she got pissed and stormed out. She called me crying but I couldn't really feel bad. She had to have known before they started dating. I'm just glad they broke up. They weren't good together."

"Okay. Thanks Sasuke." Ino walked away briskly and Sasuke frowned at her and walked back over to Naruto.

"Man, if you weren't gay I'd say you were hitting on her. Only I don't know how you flirt because I've never seen it." Naruto laughed and Sasuke felt a headache coming along and he stared into the distance.

If anyone knew how Sasuke was when he was flirting, it was Naruto.

* * *

"Gaara, boo. I got the tea." Ino called and Gaara stood up and excused himself from a conversation with Itachi.

"I'll be right back." Itachi just raised an eyebrow and followed Ino. "What the hell does that mean, Ino?"

"It means I have gossip." Gaara tilted his head to the side.

"What... does that have to do with tea?" Ino ignored the question.

"Apparently, Sakura came in, guns blazing, pissed that Lee was ignoring her because he was sad and she was like 'omg you don't even love me. You love that ho Gaara' and Lee was like 'gurl you better stop talking' and Sakura was like 'omg it's true tho' and Lee was like 'yeah you right tho.' So yeah." Gaara stared at her and blinked for a while.

"Did any of those words actually come out of their mouths?" Ino glowered.

"What she's saying is-" Itachi started and Gaara jumped. "Sakura accused Lee of loving you and Lee said yes he does. I assume you're talking about Sakura and Lee's break up that absolutely no one saw coming?" Gaara frowned.

"Now Gaara, don't think just because him and Sakura broke up that means you and Lee will get together right now. You should wait." Ino explained and Gaara frowned at her.

"I'm unsure I want to be with Lee anymore anyway." Ino frowned at him.

"Honey, I'm sorry he hurt you that bad..." Ino looked at Itachi. "But Itachi is still hot." Gaara groaned and walked away.

* * *

It was almost midnight and Gaara was sitting outside on the porch. He didn't like crowds and inside the house was much too warm. He saw Lee a few times walk by the glass sliding door but Lee didn't see him.

Gaara took the time to really think about his feelings and try to put them in perspective. Did he want to be with Lee? No. Not right now. He couldn't do it. It was nice to know that Lee finally made a step in the right direction though. He was glad to hear that he wasn't lying to himself anymore.

"I knew I'd find you out here." Itachi said and sat down on the lounge chair a few seats away from Gaara. Gaara just nodded. "You thinking about Lee?" Another nod. "Makes sense. It's a sad time to miss someone, New Years."

"Why is it a sad time around New Years?" Gaara asked and Itachi smirked.

"Have you ever heard of people kissing after the ball drops?" Gaara nodded and it made sense. "Have you ever had a kiss on New Years? When the ball dropped?" Gaara shook his head.

"Lee was my first kiss and that only happened last month. Or was it the month before? I can't remember. My mind is everywhere." Itachi frowned.

"I'm sorry to hear that, kid." Gaara glared at him again.

"I'm not a kid." Gaara argued and Itachi laughed again.

"You are to me. Now let's get inside real quick. The ball is about to drop." Itachi stood up and offered his hand to Gaara. Gaara took it and allowed himself to be pulled up but stayed standing instead of walking inside. The sudden force of resistance caused Itachi to pause and look back at Gaara. "You don't want to go inside?" Gaara shook his head. "Why not, kid." Gaara scowled.

"I'm not a kid. I said that already."

"30!... 29!... 28!..." The chanting started inside and Itachi frowned at Gaara who remained unmoving.

"Why don't you want to go inside? It's warmer." Gaara nodded.

"25!... 24!"

"I know but I'm comfortable out here right now. You can go inside if you want." Itachi shook his head.

"20!... 19!"

"I'm not going inside without you. If you want to stay outside and die of hypothermia I suppose I'll die with you." Itachi joked dryly.

"16!... 15!... 14!"

"Yes because that's clearly the smart option instead of just saying 'oh wow. Early onset hypothermia seems to be taking hold of Gaara. Let me take him inside."

"9!... 8!... 7!"

"You're a smartass, you know that kid?"

"6!... 5!"

"I'm not a fucking kid!"

"4!... 3!..."

"Then prove it."

"2!... 1!" Gaara yanked Itachi down with the arm that was still holding onto his wrist and took him by the neck and kissed him. "HAPPY NEW YEAR!"

Itachi was surprised at the kiss, that was for damn sure, but he didn't pull away. He wondered if he was helping Gaara this way. He waited for Gaara to pull away and when he did Itachi didn't embarrass him for putting himself out there. Instead he just looked impressed.

"You have balls, but you're still a kid." Gaara gave him a look which was different than any look he'd given him before.

"Give me 18 days." Itachi smirked.

"Gladly. Now, let's get inside. We don't need people wondering where we are..."

The only person that really did wonder, was Lee. And Lee decided he saw enough. He didn't need anymore heart break. If Gaara kissing Itachi made him feel better, fine.

Lee decided during that kiss, he would be Gaara's New Year's kiss next year. He just had to work on himself first. He needed to be able to deserve Gaara.


	29. Chapter 29

Lee was having a hard time at school once it started up again. Everything was so awkward. He saw Sakura but she went out of his way to avoid him. He saw Gaara and Gaara acted like he wasn't even there. Sasuke and Gaara were talking more then they normally did and it left a bitter taste in Lee's mouth. Were they talking because Gaara was almost always at Itachi's house? Whatever it was, it made Lee feel... abandoned. He sighed and decided it wasn't the time to feel that way. He needed to be better.

At the same time, he kept remembering Gaara kiss Itachi and the kiss broke his heart and he felt stupid. Gaara had to watch him with Sakura all the time, all he did was see Gaara kiss Itachi once... Was that all? Did Gaara kiss Itachi at piano lessons? Were they even practicing piano. No! Lee grumbled to himself. He needed to focus. It was just so hard. He wanted Gaara to be happy so badly but it sucked when that meant he had to keep a distance. He missed Gaara terribly.

"Lee, you coming man or are you gonna stand there all day?" Naruto asked and Lee shook his head and smiled.

"Sorry Naruto. I must have zoned out! Let us go."

* * *

The following weeks, Lee didn't have time to be sad. He decided he was going to throw himself into his hobbies so he didn't have to think of Gaara. It worked, sometimes.

He would go to school, go to track until 4, then go to the dojo and train until 5, then he would teach classes until 8, then go home and do homework, go to bed and do it all over again. It was stressful, it took up his whole day, but for once, Lee didn't feel so bad anymore. He was helping little kids learn discipline and he was teaching older ones to stand up for themselves. Since the fight with Sasuke, the dojo's numbers have raised considerably. Sasuke and Naruto still showed up for their lessons with Kakashi's class and Lee would join just for fun. It was nice having his friends around. He shouldn't have pushed them away in the first place.

* * *

Gaara sat at his desk and looked at the calendar on his wall. The dates up to the 17th were crossed off and he frowned, looking at the 19th. Every year on his birthday, he would expect something to happen to make him feel older. It never happened, he always felt the same as he did the day before. What could this birthday bring?

Ino was texting him about going out over the weekend to celebrate his birthday and Gaara didn't know what to do. No one ever celebrated his birthday. It wasn't that Temari or Kankuro didn't care, but Gaara's birthday was never celebrated and they guessed he just preferred it that way. He couldn't prefer it considering he didn't know anything else.

Gaara spun his chair around and sat by his tree, it seemed to grow since he got it and he smiled at it. He gently brushed the branches and his hand touched the clothespin with Kankuro's name on it. Gaara frowned. He felt bad for giving Lee the one with his name. Just because they weren't talking didn't mean he wasn't important in Gaara's life. He would always be important. Even if it was just in memories. Lee was the one who befriended him. Gaara would still be living in the café if it weren't for Lee, and he was grateful.

Gaara pondered in thought for a while. Should he have pushed Lee away so aggressively? Gaara missed him and their talks. He missed when Lee got excitable. Gaara felt strange knowing that yes, he missed Lee, but he didn't feel the love anymore. He thought that would come back when he started to miss Lee, but it didn't. Did he not love Lee anymore? Or was he just too hurt by him still?

Gaara made a mental note to finally sit down and talk to him. It's been nearly a month since they talked. Gaara figured he was calmed down enough where the talk wouldn't end in a screaming match. Not today though, and not tomorrow. He was busy. With a smile he text Itachi.

'Are we still on for tomorrow'

'You bet, kid.'

'Enjoy calling me that for the next 5 hours.'

'I'm trying to get this in as much as I can tbh.'

'You're an asshole.'

'Thank.'

* * *

Gaara woke up violently to Guy and Kakashi in his room with confetti.

"IT'S YOUR BIRTHDAY, SON!" Guy yelled jovially. "HAPPY BIRTHDAY GAARA!"

"But why the confetti?" Gaara asked sadly, picking it out of his hair.

"Because it's YOUR BIRTHDAY! YAY!" Guy threw more confetti at him and Gaara pouted. Kakashi laughed and grabbed Guy's hand to lead him out of the room.

"Anyway, get ready! Breakfast!" Gaara nodded and they left his room. He looked up to see clothes neatly folded on his dresser and shook his head with a fond smile, Kakashi needed to stop buying him clothes. A long sleeved, maroon dress shirt, a long sleeved V neck dark gray sweater and a nice pair of jeans. He even bought socks matching the dress shirt. Gaara rolled his eyes. Guy was extra, sure, but Kakashi was just the most.

* * *

Sitting at the breakfast table with Kakashi and Guy was nice. They gave Gaara a gift then told him that he had to be home later to get his other ones. Lee walked downstairs a few minutes later and smiled softly at Gaara.

"Happy Birthday." He said gently and handed Gaara a gift.

"Lee, you didn't have to..."

"I know I didn't have to. But I did and Happy Birthday." Lee sat down and started to eat breakfast and Gaara stared at the gift. It was soft and pliable so he could tell it was clothes. Gaara ripped the paper and when he pulled it out, he saw it was a sweater issued from the dojo. It was exactly like the one he used to borrow from Lee. He flipped it around and his name was written on the back. As much as he liked the gift, it felt weird. Was this Lee's way of saying Gaara needed it since he couldn't wear Lee's anymore?

"Thank you, Lee. I love it." Lee smiled warmly at him and it just cemented the fact that yes, Gaara did miss him.

* * *

"Alright Gaara! I got everything." Itachi announced and Gaara nodded from the recording room and took off the headphones and walked into the studio.

"When will we do instruments?" He asked and Itachi played with a few knobs.

"Be patient. I have to listen to the songs a few times to figure out what would sound best with your voice. There's a lot that could. Your voice is beautiful." Gaara flushed with embarrassment.

"Thank you..." Itachi smiled and messed with a few keys, Gaara had no idea what he was doing. Itachi grabbed the USB that was plugged in and pocketed it.

"You're very welcome, kid." Gaara glared at him and Itachi just smiled. "I couldn't help myself."

"You're very funny." He said flatly. "I'm not a kid. Let's go."

"But it's just fun to tease you." Itachi said with a smirk and Gaara sighed. "Where would you like to go, birthday boy?" Gaara paused for a moment.

"I don't know." Itachi sat down on the couch and crossed his legs.

"I don't know isn't a destination. I'm sitting here until we have one." Gaara groaned and sat next to him on the couch. "Are you hungry?" No. "Do you want to do something physical like roller skate or some shit?" No. "What about go to the movies?" No. "Get a goddamn smoothie?" No. "Jesus, kid. What do you want to do?"

"I told you I'm not a kid." Gaara growled and Itachi had to admit, he worked up Gaara a lot because the look of anger in his eyes gave him chills. Itachi just smiled.

"Sorry. Old habits die hard." Gaara rolled his eyes and looked away with a pout. This was just too easy. Itachi leaned in, real close to Gaara's ear and whispered "kid." Gaara whipped around and grabbed Itachi by the scruff of his neck and kissed him hard. Why that was his first reaction, he honestly didn't know. He could say though, it was something he's wanted to do all month. Itachi had just been teasing him the entire time and it was frustrating.

Kissing Lee was always so innocent and shy. Kissing Itachi was just... angry and passionate. Gaara couldn't decide which one he liked better. He pulled away from the kiss, still holding Itachi's hair firmly.

"Not. A. Kid." Itachi just slid his hands under Gaara's legs, right where his thighs met the curve of his butt and picked him up and pulled Gaara onto his lap. Gaara stared at him in confusion and Itachi curved his index finger behind Gaara's chin and gently pressed his thumb against it. Itachi didn't do more than that but his eyes were daring.

"I waited 18 days for this? You're going to have to be more persuasive." He purred and Gaara's cheeks turned pink. "No, no. Don't get shy on me now." Gaara glowered at him and Itachi grinned teasingly. "That's better." Swiftly, he grabbed Gaara by the back of the neck and pulled him down.

Itachi toughed Gaara a whole new way to kiss. One that was neater than Lee's and yet it felt... dirtier. Kissing Lee was just like innocently kissing someone to kiss them. Kissing Itachi was like this was the commencement of sex. Gaara liked kissing Itachi, but the passion in the kiss made him uncomfortable. He wasn't ready for that type of kissing. Not with Itachi, anyway. Gaara pulled away and Itachi sucked in air.

"Where are you going?" He whispered against Gaara's lips. Their eyes locked and Gaara was amazed with how much Itachi's eye color reminded him of Lee's.

"I'm demisexual." Gaara whispered back and Itachi smiled softly.

"I'm not going to push you into do anything you aren't comfortable doing, Gaara. I hope you know that." Gaara nodded and frowned. "What?"

"Just... the way you kiss is different." Itachi looked concerned. "No, not in a bad way. A more... mature way I guess."

"And it's scaring you?" Gaara nodded and Itachi hugged him. "I didn't mean to. I apologize. We can stop."

"No. I don't want to." Gaara pulled back from the hug to look Itachi in the eye. "I just wanted you to know." Itachi nodded at him.

"Consider me advised." The look Itachi was giving him sent a tingling feeling down Gaara's back. Gaara wondered if Itachi always looked this seductive. "So what do you want to do?" Gaara just stared at him until he finally covered Itachi's mouth with his own. Itachi made a moan at the contact and it gave Gaara goosebumps. "Whatever you want, birthday boy."

Itachi's hands were on Gaara's hips and they slowly moved up his back, then back down. The light massage felt intimate but in a way that didn't scare Gaara. While they made out on the studio couch, Gaara wondered in the back of his mind, if everyone in his life was there to teach him a lesson, what was Itachi supposed to teach him?

* * *

"Hey Ino, I have to talk to you." Gaara said quietly after he got home. Kakashi and Guy were pleasantly surprised that Gaara came home at a reasonable time and decided to order pizza from the place Lee and him went on their not-date a few months back.

"What? Is something wrong?" Ino asked, voice full of concern. Gaara shifted uncomfortably in his bed.

"It would be best if we talked in person. I'm no good over the phone. When can I see you next?"

"I'll be there in 15."

"Thank you, Ino." They hung up the phone and Gaara sat up on his bed and thought about the afternoon that just happened. It seemed like something out of a dream. He was in a recording studio to record his own songs and made out with one of his friend's older brothers. He wasn't sure if he should be ashamed of himself or proud. He walked out of his room and stood at the top of the stairs.

"Hey Kakashi." He called and Kakashi poked his head into view. "Ino is coming over, is that ok?"

"Whatever you want, birthday boy." The words made Gaara turn red instantly and he thanked Kakashi and rushed into his room. He couldn't get Itachi's voice out of his head. He constantly felt Itachi's hands on his back and on his hips.

"Gaara, how are you?" Lee popped in and Gaara jumped and spun around to look at Lee. "I apologize! I did not mean to scare you."

"I-it's fine." Gaara's face was still red from before.

"Are you okay? You look unwell..." Lee scrutinized and Gaara shrunk away from him.

"I'm fine. Just..." He trailed off and after a moment of silence, Lee nodded.

"Yeah, ok. I get it. Well... If you would like to talk, I am here." Lee smiled and left to go to his room. Gaara just stared at the door and never in his life had he been more confused.

He quickly got up and changed into something more comfortable, not wanting to be in his birthday clothes all day. Ino should be here any minute and Gaara was biting his thumb and pacing the entire time. When he heard the doorbell ring, he jolted down the stairs.

"I got it!" Kakashi stepped back, wide eyed.

"Whoa, slow down there, Gaara."

"Sorry." Gaara opened the door and saw Ino. "I will be right back!" He pushed Ino outside and she glared at him.

"Why are you pushing me?" Gaara's lips were pressed together and he pushed Ino into the back seat of her car. "You're going to have to woo me a lot more to get me in the back." She joked and Gaara climbed in after her and slammed the door shut. "Gaara, what's wrong with-"

"I made out with Itachi." Gaara blurred out and his face was bright red. Ino's eyes lit up and she covered her mouth, then bounced excitedly on the seat.

"Oh my god! I can't tell if I'm super excited for you or super jealous! That's amazing. How was he? Did he kiss well? What did he do with his hands? What is everything he said? What position were you in?" Gaara looked at her oddly.

"Do all girls ask for this much detail?" She shrugged and nodded. "Girls are weird..." Gaara mumbled and Ino rolled her eyes at him. "He was... enjoyable. I was straddling him..." Gaara's blush darkened and Ino giggled. "He was rubbing my back. He was asking what I wanted for my birthday-"

"-that dick tho-"

"-and he kept calling me a kid so I don't know. I kissed him. He said he wanted to do that for a while and we made out." Ino narrowed her eyes at him.

"Yes but for how long?" Gaara scoffed at her question, like he timed it all!

"I don't know... Like... Thirty minutes?" Ino's eyes widened.

"You made out for thirty minutes? Did it get... sexual?" Ino winked and Gaara decided now was as good of a time as any.

"No. Ino, I'm not gay, I'm demisexual. I can't have sex with someone if I don't love them." Ino blinked at him, then smirked.

"So we could totally-"

"Not in a million years, no." She laughed.

"I'm just teasing you. Why didn't you tell me before? I thought you were gay and I kept calling you gay. I didn't offend you, did I?" Gaara shook his head.

"I figured it wasn't a big deal because I seem to be drawn to guys so maybe I'm gay, who knows." Gaara's phone suddenly vibrated and he pulled it out of his pocket. Ino knew who it was by the blush on his face.

"Is it-"

"Yes." Gaara read the text message. 'Are you going to have your piano lesson tomorrow? Happy Birthday again.'

'Yes. Unless you were otherwise occupied?' Ino scoffed at the formality and he shoved her.

'I'm always free for you. Can't wait to see you. I hope you had fun today. I did.'

'You definitely made my birthday unforgettable.'

'Hope that's a good thing.'

'You could say that.'

* * *

Since the story doesn't get that much traffic here, I will update it when I have time. If it gains more popularity I will update more frequently here


	30. Important note

Hello everyone,

I don't know who actually reads this but I decided to discontinue posting the story here. As of right now (11/30/17) the story is 59 chapters and you can find it on Archive of Our Own.

archiveofourown works/11286570

(Without the spaces)

There are also several oneshots connected to the story as well (Some Kakashi/Guy and a Naruto/Sasuke) so check those out too.

Sorry for the inconvenience.


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